Stocks rise, led by healthcare firms
U.S. stocks rebounded from an early slide Thursday, nudging the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq composite to their highest closes of the year.
Healthcare companies led the comeback. Energy stocks declined the most after a meeting of OPEC ministers ended without an agreement on cutting production of crude oil.
A late-afternoon reversal delivered the second gain in two days for the stock market in what has been a muted week of trading. Investors have been waiting for clues as to whether the Federal Reserve will raise its key interest rate this month.
Many will be looking to Friday, when the Labor Department releases its latest monthly jobs report.
“It is the last major data point for the Fed to digest before they go into their mid-June meeting,” said Bill Northey, chief investment officer at U.S. Bank Private Client Group.
Seven of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500 posted gains, led by healthcare firms. Health insurer Humana climbed the most in the index, advancing 5.6% to $187.36. Drugmaker Endo International rose 4.9% to $17.44.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil increased 16 cents, or 0.3%, to $49.17 a barrel. Brent crude advanced 32 cents, or 0.6%, to $50.04 a barrel.
Even so, energy stocks were the biggest laggard in the S&P 500. Shares in several oil drilling and exploration companies declined; Diamond Offshore Drilling slid the most — 4% to $24.30.
Investors also weighed the latest company earnings and deal news.
L Brands, the company behind the Victoria’s Secret brand, rose 4.3% to $71.33 after it reported its latest sales figures.
Johnson & Johnson rose on news that the company agreed to buy Vogue International, a privately held maker of hair care products, for about $3.3 billion. Johnson & Johnson shares rose 1.5% to $114.49.
Online storage provider Box tumbled 11.5% to $11.34 after the company reported disappointing results.
Conn’s sank 26.3% to $8.63 after the retailer posted quarterly results that fell short of analysts’ estimates.
Natural gas rose 2 cents, or 1%, to $2.405 per 1,000 cubic feet. Wholesale gasoline rose 2 cents, or 1.2%, to $1.63 a gallon, and heating oil rose a penny to $1.51 a gallon.
U.S. government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.81% from 1.84%. In currency markets, the dollar fell to 108.91 yen from 109.54. The euro fell to $1.1148 from $1.1186.
Precious and industrial metals futures were little changed. Gold fell $2.10 to $1,212.60 an ounce, silver rose 10 cents to $16.03 an ounce and copper was f lat at $2.07 a pound.