Stocks rallied again on Thursday for the second straight session, pushing the S&P 500 up 0.9% to nearly a two-month high. All 11 sector groups finished in the green, led by telecoms (up 1.9%) and utilities (up 1.3%). Consumer discretionary stocks were the laggards, as Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) added just 0.1%.
In the tech sector, the group gained 1.3% thanks to a 1.4% jump in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) for its ninth consecutive advance to notch a new record high. The stock continues to benefit from recent comments that Warren Buffett has accumulated a large position in the iPhone maker. From the late April lows, the stock is up more than 18%.
Other so-called “FANGMAN” stocks performed well, with Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) up 1.6% as it completely erases the 25% peak-to-trough decline related to the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
A solid appearance by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in front of Congress and a solid earnings report has overcome concerns about a drag on profitability from tighter regulation and deleted user accounts.
The catalyst for the rally was a weaker-than-expected inflation report, easing concerns about aggressive Federal Reserve rate hikes through the end of the year. Treasury yields moved lower. And President Donald Trump announced his summer with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would be held on June 12 in Singapore.
Check out Serge Berger’s Trade of the Day for May 11.
Today’s Trading Landscape
To see a list of the companies reporting earnings today, click here.
For a list of this week’s economic reports due out, click here.
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Anthony Mirhaydari is founder of the Edge (ETFs) and Edge Pro (Options) investment advisory newsletters. Free two- and four-week trial offers have been extended to InvestorPlace readers.
