Tech, Healthcare Firms Drive More Gains for US Stocks

NEW YORK (AP) – A broad rally drove U.S. stocks solidly higher Thursday for the second day in a row, extending the market’s gains for the week.

Technology companies, which have led the market this year, contributed the most to the rally. Health care stocks and banks also accounted for a big slice of the market’s gains as investors sized up the latest company earnings and economic news. Crude oil prices rebounded after an early slide.

The S&P 500 index rose 25.28 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,723.07. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 196.99 points, or 0.8 percent, to 24,739.53. The gain turned the Dow back to positive for the year.

The Nasdaq added 65.07 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,404.97.

Smaller-company stocks continued to post solid gains. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 7.66 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,603.71. That’s the highest close for the index since January.

The major indexes were moving higher from the get-go Thursday as investors sifted through the latest measure of inflation in the economy.

The Labor Department said that U.S. consumer prices rose a modest 0.2 percent in April, a sign that broader inflation pressure remains 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 the Federal Reserve will be less inclined to accelerate interest rate hikes. The Fed has signaled they will lift rates twice more this year, following an increase in March. Some expect that an uptick in inflation or economic growth might spur the Fed to add a third hike.

Bond prices rose, pulling the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 2.96 percent from 3 percent late Wednesday.

Technology stocks extended their gains. The sector is up 11.1 percent this year, ahead of all others.

On Thursday, Qualcomm led the sector, climbing 3.4 percent to $54.97 after the company’s board approved a $10 billion share buyback.

Envision Healthcare was the biggest gainer among health care stocks. The company added 5 percent to $42.74. Cardinal Health also moved higher, adding 3.8 percent to $54.74 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.

CenturyLink jumped 7.5 percent to $19.40 after the telecom company reported earnings that were much higher than analysts were expecting.

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.

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.

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.

In other energy futures trading, heating oil was little changed at $2.22 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline added 3 cents to $2.19 a gallon. Natural gas gained 8 cents to $2.81 per 1,000 cubic feet.