Wall Street bounced higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 surging to the highest levels since mid March as investors continued to cheer Friday's May payrolls that showed signs of a strong U.S. economy and as Apple's ( AAPL ) stock hit a record high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a triple-digit rally as Apple firmed on the first day of its annual developer conference, and on a strong session for Walmart ( WMT ) and Merck ( MRK ).
The Nasdaq Composite posted an all-time peak on the strength in Apple and Amazon.com ( AMZN ), which rose 1.5% to its own record high after SunTrust Robinson Humphrey raised its price target on the stock to $2,000 from $1,900, citing the higher expected contribution to earnings and margins from private label sales.
Stocks globally cheered the better-than-expected payrolls numbers on Friday, and carried on the sentiment into the new week, even as the day's lighteconomic calendarshowed that orders for manufactured goods dropped for the first time in three months in April.
The focus shifted in the afternoon to Apple's developer conference, and the iPhone maker's unveiling of an update to its iOS mobile operating system. The shares ended 0.8% stronger at $191.83, the highest on record. The S&P's tech sector ended 0.8% stronger.
The best increase among the 11 groups came with a 1.1% rise in consumer discretionary, while staples rose 0.8% and real estate increased 0.9%. Gains were mitigated by a decline in the energy sector, which fell 1% on the S&P as oil prices continued to give back recent advances.
West Texas Intermediate, the US crude benchmark, was at the lowest level in about two months, sending Chevron ( CVX ) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) both down more than 1%. General Electric (GE) had the steepest slide on the Dow, shedding 2.8% as JPMorgan Chase said the industrial conglomerate will need to cut its dividend again, according to CNBC.
Here's where the markets stood by the close:
US MARKETS
Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 178.48 points (+0.72%)
S&P 500 was up 12.25 points (+0.45%)
Nasdaq Composite Index was up 52.13 points (+0.69%)
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
FTSE 100 was up 0.51%
Nikkei 225 was up 1.37%
Hang Seng Index was up 1.66%
Shanghai China Composite Index was up 0.52%
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) IMMU (+10.26%) Details clinical development plan for sacituzumab govitecan
(+) FOSL (+8.69%) KeyBanc raises price target to $32 from $25
(+) CNET (+5.07%) Launched blockchain powered mobile app for intelligent marketing and advertising
(+) MYSZ (+2.56%) Launched BoxSizeID measurement technology
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) NKTR (-41.82%) Reported "underwhelming" cancer trial data
(-) JNCE (-33.48%) Downgraded at JP Morgan to neutral from overweight, PT cut by more than half
(-) MRSN (-23%) Advancement into mid-stage development of cancer treatment on hold
(-) VXRT (-18.32%) Phase 2 trial of teslexivir gel failed to meet its primary endpoint
(-) TTD (-3.97%) Wells Fargo downgrades to market perform from outperform
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
