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Wall Street Rallies for Second Consecutive Session
10-May-18 16:30 ET
Dow +196.99 at 24739.53, Nasdaq +65.07 at 7404.98, S&P +25.28 at 2723.07

https://www.briefing.com/investor/markets/stock-market-update/2018/5/10/wall-street-rallies-for-second-consecutive-session.htm

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks had another strong outing on Thursday, their second in a row, lifting the S&P 500 to a nearly two-month high. The benchmark index finished the session higher by 0.9% and is now about 45 points above its 50-day moving average. The Dow and the Nasdaq also closed with comfortable gains, adding 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively, while the Russell 2000 advanced 0.5%.

The market was firing on all cylinders, with all 11 S&P sectors finishing in the green. Telecom services (+1.9%), utilities (+1.3%), health care (+1.3%), and information technology (+1.3%) led the charge, while consumer discretionary (+0.4%) lagged a bit as retailers and Amazon (AMZN 1609.08, +1.08) underperformed. The other groups settled with gains between 0.6% and 1.0%.

Within the tech space, Apple (AAPL 190.04, +2.68) -- the S&P 500's largest component by market cap -- jumped 1.4% on Thursday, securing its ninth consecutive advance and a new record high. Other tech giants -- including FAANG stocks Facebook (FB 185.53, +2.87) and Alphabet (GOOG 1097.57, +14.81) -- also showed notable strength, reminiscing last year's tech-charged rally.

Inflation data -- namely, the Consumer Price Index for April -- helped fuel buying on Thursday, coming in slightly below estimates, and thereby tempering concerns that the Fed might have to be more aggressive in its path to normalization. The weekly Initial Claims report added to that upbeat narrative, pointing to a still-humming job market.

Overseas, the Bank of England voted 7-2 in favor of keeping its official bank rate and its asset purchase program unchanged, but BoE Governor Mike Carney added that interest rates will likely go up by the end of the year. In the Middle East, Israel struck nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria overnight in response to an Iranian missile attack on Israeli-held territory.

Also of note, President Trump said his summit with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un will be held on June 12 in Singapore.

Treasury yields moved mostly lower on Thursday as bonds advanced for the first time this week. The yield on the benchmark 10-yr Treasury note dropped below the psychologically important 3.00% mark, losing three points to finish at 2.97%. The 2-yr yield ticked higher though, closing up one basis point at 2.54%.

The S&P 500, the Dow, and the Nasdaq hold week-to-date gains between 2.0% and 2.7% going into Friday's session, on course for their best week since early March.

Reviewing Thursday's economic data, which included the April Consumer Price Index, weekly Initial Claims, and the April Treasury Budget:

Total CPI increased 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus +0.3%) in April, while core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.1% (Briefing.com consensus +0.2%). On a year-over-year basis, total CPI is up 2.5% (vs +2.4% in March) and core CPI is up 2.1% (vs +2.1% in March).
The key takeaway from the report is that the CPI and core CPI headlines were weaker than expected, which helped temper concerns about the potential for the Fed to be more aggressive than expected.
The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 211,000, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 220,000. Today's tally was unchanged from the prior week's unrevised count of 211,000. As for continuing claims, they declined to 1.790 million from a revised count of 1.760 million (from 1.756 million).
Since there was no change in initial claims from the prior week, it's fair to say that there was no change in the key takeaway from the report, which is that the low level of claims continues to underscore a condition of tightening supply in the labor market.
The Treasury Budget for April showed a surplus of $214.3 billion versus a surplus of $182.4 billion for the same period a year ago.
The Treasury Budget data is not seasonally adjusted, so the April surplus cannot be compared to the $208.7 billion deficit for March.

On Friday, investors will receive April Import/Export Prices and the preliminary reading for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for May (Briefing.com consensus 98.0).

Nasdaq Composite: +7.3% YTD
Russell 2000: +4.4% YTD
S&P 500: +1.9% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.1% YTD