US Markets
Tech carries stocks higher as oil and yields fade
The major indexes all close green, but the day belongs to tech, lower volatility, and a sharp drop in crude.
U.S. stocks end higher, with the S&P 500 up 1.5% to 7,764.7, the Nasdaq up 2.3% to 27,122.1, the Dow up 0.7% to 52,048.8, and the Russell 2000 up 0.5% to 2,875.4. The move is broad enough to keep all four benchmarks in the green, but it is not broad enough to hide where the strength sits: tech climbs 2.9%, communication services jumps 3.9%, and discretionary adds 1.3%.
The day’s weakest pocket is energy, which falls 2.3% as WTI crude drops 4.1% and Brent loses 3.1%. Utilities, staples, and materials also finish lower, while real estate, financials, and healthcare post gains. The options tape leans slightly bullish on SPY, where call volume of 634,271 tops put volume of 601,234, while QQQ shows a more clearly bullish tilt with a put-call ratio of 0.4.
Volatility eases alongside the rally. The VIX falls 3.8% to 14.31, while the VIX 9-day rises 7.1% to 13.14. The S&P 500 holds above its 200-day average, and the intraday path is mostly choppy, with the index spending most of the session in a narrow band before slipping into the close.
Outside the mega-cap complex, the market for individual stocks is active. Viking Therapeutics jumps 35.7%, Butterfly Network rises 22.0%, and Vicor gains 19.9% among the day’s biggest winners, while Celldex Therapeutics drops 11.6%, Planet Fitness falls 9.5%, and Nektar Therapeutics loses 8.8%.