Tech, health care drive stocks up

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.

“They’ve had a good couple of months,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments. “The dollar really strengthened here up until the last couple of days, and that is benefiting those smaller-cap companies.”

The major indexes were moving higher from the getgo 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 could 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, following an increase in March. Some expect that an uptick in inflation or economic growth might spur the Fed to add a third increase.

“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.

Bond investors appeared to interpret the consumer prices data as a sign that the Fed is not likely to speed up the pace of its planned rate hikes. 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.

Traders also had their eye on corporate earnings Thursday.

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

Booking Holdings slid 4.7 percent to $2,080.02 after its latest quarterly report card disappointed traders.

L Brands slumped 7.2 percent to $31.68 after the retailer said it expects to only reach the low end of its first-quarter profit forecast