Apple carrying stock market to session highs
Many stocks are feeling bullish today, especially Apple (AAPL 240.84, +4.43, +1.9%), which is giving a nice boost to the S&P 500 (+0.6%) and Nasdaq Composite (+0.9%). The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.2%) falls behind amid continued weakness in Boeing (BA 333.30, -10.70, -3.1%).
Apple's price target was increased to a $280 from $225 at Raymond James, which joins a growing list of firms updating their Apple forecasts. AAPL is now up 7.5% this month and up 52.6% this year -- well above the performance of the S&P 500 in the same time frames. The S&P 500 information technology sector is currently up 0.9%.
Elsewhere, the financials sector (+1.3%) continues to build on its earnings-driven outperformance from last week amid continued curve-steeping activity. The battered energy sector (+1.8%) also outperforms amid an 8% gain in Halliburton (HAL 19.94, +1.51, +8.2%) despite a revenue miss.
The 2-yr yield (1.60%) is now 20 basis points below the 10-yr yield (1.80%). The U.S. Dollar Index is little changed at 98.26. WTI crude is down 1.1% to $53.28/bbl.
The health care sector (-0.1%) is the lone sector trading lower today. Boeing remains under pressure after its stock was downgraded to Neutral at UBS, Credit Suisse, and Robert W. Baird.
In the health care space, AmerisourceBergen (ABC 86.51, -3.13, -3.5%), Cardinal Health (CAH 50.17, -1.37, -2.7%), and McKesson (MCK 146.04, -6.22, -4.1%) agreed to a last-minute $215 million opioid settlement before a trial was about to begin in Ohio today. Talks of the comprehensive $50 billion settlement package broke down over the weekend.
Separately, there's been more upbeat rhetoric about a U.S.-China trade deal, which could be contributing to today's positive sentiment -- to a certain extent. Nothing new was stated but sides remain intent on completing the first phase of a deal.
Investors did not receive any notable economic data today.
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