A broad rally in U.S. stocks late Thursday afternoon had the market on track for its second gain in a row. Technology companies, health care stocks and banks accounted for much of the latest rally as investors sized up the latest company earnings and economic news. Crude oil prices rebounded after an early slide.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index rose 23 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,721 as of 3:18 p.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 195 points, or 0.8 percent, to 24,738. The Nasdaq added 57 points, or 0.8 percent, to 7,397. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 7 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,603.
TECH BOOST: A pickup in technology stocks helped boost the market. Micron Technology rose 2.7 percent to $52.41. Qualcomm gained 3 percent to $54.78 after the company’s board approved a $10 billion share buyback.
IN GOOD HEALTH: Envision Healthcare led a rally in health care stocks. The company rose 5 percent to $42.73. Cardinal Health also moved higher, climbing 3.3 percent to $54.49 after The Wall Street Journal reported that experts think the Trump administration’s plan to reduce drug prices won’t have a big effect on costs.
BROACASTWORTHY: CenturyLink jumped 7.7 percent to $19.43 after the telecom company reported earnings that were much higher than analysts were expecting.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH: Booking Holdings slid 5.6 percent to $2,060 after its latest quarterly report card disappointed traders.
DASHED EXPECTATIONS: L Brands slumped 7.9 percent to $31.42 after the retailer said it expects to only reach the low end of its first-quarter profit forecast.
INFLATION BELLWETHER: The Labor Department said that U.S. consumer prices rose a modest 0.2 percent in April, a sign that broader inflation pressure remain muted. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices ticked up just 0.1 percent last month and 2.1 percent from April last year. Slower growth in core prices may mean that the Federal Reserve will be less inclined to accelerate interest rate hikes. The Fed has signaled they will lift rates twice more this year. Some expect that an uptick in inflation or economic growth might spur the Fed to add a third hike.
THE QUOTE: “It tells us that rates are going to continue to go higher, but maybe it starts to call into question: Are we really going to have four? Maybe three is enough,” said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude oil reversed an early slide. It rose 22 cents to settle at $71.36 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 26 cents to close at $77.47 per barrel.
BOND YIELDS: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.97 percent from 3 percent late Wednesday.
CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 109.37 yen from 109.72 yen on Wednesday. The euro strengthened to $1.1927 from $1.1861. The pound weakened to $1.3519 from $1.3555 after the Bank of England held off raising interest rates due to weaker economic growth so far this year.
METALS: Gold rose $9.30 to $1,322.30 an ounce. Silver gained 22 cents to $16.76 an ounce. Copper picked up 5 cents to $3.11 a pound.
MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany’s DAX rose 0.6 percent and France’s CAC 40 added 0.2 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.5 percent. Earlier in Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.4 percent. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.8 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained nearly 1.0 percent.
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