By Dan Strumpf And Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday, with the S&P 500 on track
for a record close, as European equities regained ground and bond
markets stabilized.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 183 points, or 1%, to
18244 in afternoon trading. The S&P 500 gained 21 points, or
1%, to 2119. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 63 points, or 1.3%,
to 5045.
Other markets that had seen sharp losses in recent sessions also
regained ground. European stocks extended their gains as U.S.
trading got under way, with Germany's DAX snapping a three-day
losing streak to gain 1.8%.
Government bonds in the both the U.S. and Europe also rose. The
yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.228% from 2.283%, as
prices rose.
The gains in U.S. stocks put the S&P 500 on course for a
record finish, topping the S&P's April 24 record of 2117.69.
The Dow is still 0.2% away from its March 2 record of 18288.63.
Technology stocks pulled ahead of the broader market, with the
S&P 500 Information Technology index rallying 1.6%.
Traders said there was no single catalyst behind Thursday's
advance, pointing instead to signs of stability in other markets
that have been rocked by volatile trading in recent sessions. That
calm has prompted some investors to wade back into U.S. stocks,
they said.
"I think it's a return to some level of normalcy," said Brian
Fenske, head of sales trading at ITG, describing stock investors'
behavior Thursday.
Government bonds in the U.S. and Europe have sold off sharply in
recent sessions, leading to uneven trading in U.S. stocks. The rout
marked a turnaround from earlier this year when the European
Central Bank's bond-buying program helped boost European bond
prices to record highs.
With Thursday's rally, the S&P 500 is up 1.6% in May, while
the Dow has advanced 2.3%.
In economic news, jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 264,000 in the
week ended May 9, the Labor Department said. Economists surveyed by
The Wall Street Journal had expected 273,000 new claims.
Crude-oil futures fell 1.6% to $59.55 a barrel, after rising 39%
in the last two months.
"It seems like some of the reversals that we've seen--oil
rising, rates moving up--are a bit more stable...and that's
helping" support markets, said Michael Arone, State Street Global
Advisors' chief investment strategist.
Separately, the producer-price index for final demand fell 0.4%
in April from March, the Labor Department said. Excluding the
volatile food and energy categories, core prices fell 0.2%.
Economists had expected both overall and core prices would rise
0.1%.
In other markets, gold futures gained 0.3% to $1221 an
ounce.
In corporate news, Cisco Systems Inc. said net income in its
fiscal third quarter rose 12% on revenue that increased 5.1%.
Shares fell 0.7%.
Shares of Kohl's Corp. tumbled 12% after the retailer posted
disappointing sales growth in the first quarter after a weak
February.
Shares of Avon Products Inc. rose 5.3% after a firm calling
itself PTG Capital Partners Ltd. said in a securities filing it was
looking to buy the beauty products maker. Avon said it hadn't
received any such bid or even been able to confirm that PTG Capital
existed.
Shares of DuPont gained 1.2%, rebounding from a loss of 7.4% on
Wednesday.
Write to Dan Strumpf at daniel.strumpf@wsj.com and Saumya
Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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