the nasdaq 100 index is showing an impressive rally surging 33 higher yeartodate as of june 6 but with 19 trading sessions still remaining in june 2023 the techheavy index is on track to deliver its strongest firsthalf performance ever in fact only in three previous instances in 1998 1995 and 1987 has the index generated higher returns during the first half of the year since 1986 the average firsthalf return of the index has stood at 927 making the 2023 performance already three times as large as the historical average a striking reversal from worst to best just a year ago the techheavy index tracked by the invesco qqq trust qqq endured its worst firsthalf performance in history plummeting by a staggering 298 between january and june 2022 the outbreak of the war in ukraine and the start of fed interest rate hikes contributed to this significant decline read also apples vision pro price tag release date find little love on the street why one analyst says disney acquisition more likely after wwdc the remarkable surge in 2023 can be attributed to several factors rising expectations of a pause in the feds tightening policy coupled with easing concerns over inflation have played a positive role in the rise of tech industry shares however the primary driver behind this phenomenal performance has been the explosive growth of artificial intelligence ai companies megacap tech giants and companies associated with ai have propelled the nasdaq 100s valuations to new heights notably seven key companies have made significant contributions to the indexs performance yeartodate   nvidia corp has added 56 percentage points to the overall indexs performance   when combined these companies account for a significant portion 80 of the nasdaq 100s returns recorded thus far in 2023 historical performance nasdaq 100s percentage change in the first half of each year now read jack dorsey says coinbase should stick to bitcoin ditch altcoins and of course elon musk doges in