The S&P 500 marked its strongest quarter in six years on Tuesday for the three months that ended with June, as investors hoped for an end to the conflict between the United States and Iran.

The S&P 500 rose nearly 15% in the past quarter alone, according to the New York Times, marking its best quarterly showing since the same period in 2020 when the world was beginning to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The massive showing was largely driven by market gains on Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Tesla and Nvidia, which rose almost 30% from the end of March through the end of May.

Although the most recent quarter had a strong showing overall, it comes as investors see a rockier month in June, with the S&P 500 falling roughly 1% for the whole month. The seven companies that largely drove the gains also fell roughly 9% in June.

The Dow Jones also noted its best first half of the year since 2021, rising 8.9% from January through June, according to CNBC. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.