By Sruthi Shankar and Johann M Cherian
U.S. stocks rallied on Friday, setting up Wall Street for a strong second quarter, as Apple shares hit a record high and signs of easing inflation offered relief to investors worried about further interest rate hikes.
Apple Inc rose 1.6% to hit an all-time high at $192.74 and notched the $3 trillion market valuation mark for the first time since January 2022.
Helped by gains in Apple, technology stocks rose 1.6% and led advance among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors.
A Commerce Department report showed the Personal Consumption Expenditure index (PCE), the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, advanced 3.8%, compared with a 4.3% rise in April. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the PCE price index gained 0.3%, down from 0.4% in the previous month.
"It is showing hints of stability and that we're headed in the right direction," said Peter Andersen, founder of Andersen Capital Management in Boston.
"As we close out this quarter and turn to the second half, I'm optimistic that the economy and the consumer are in good shape and will continue to recover."
Traders were pricing in an 85.6% chance that the Fed will hike rates by 25 basis points to 5.25%-5.50% range in its July meeting, according to CMEGroup's Fedwatch tool, down slightly from the 89.3% on Thursday.
At 9:58 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 226.61 points, or 0.66%, at 34,349.03, the S&P 500 was up 45.09 points, or 1.03%, at 4,441.53, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 184.54 points, or 1.36%, at 13,775.87.
Hawkish remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell and strong economic data this week boosted bets that the U.S. central bank will continue to raise interest rates, but stock markets were buoyant on signs of strength in the U.S. economy.
Despite a recent streak of losses, the three main U.S. indexes were on course to end June and the second quarter on a high note as investors expect the Fed's aggressive tightening will not derail the U.S. economy.
Meanwhile, artificial intelligence (AI)-inspired frenzy in technology and megacap stocks set the tech-heavy Nasdaq for a near 30% gain in the first half - in what could be its best such performance in 40 years.
Treasury yields came under pressure after the data, with the yield on two-year notes, most reflective of short-term rate expectations, trading below March highs at 4.89%, while benchmark 10-year yield slipped to 3.84%. [US/]
The CBOE Market Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, slipped to a one-week low at 13.48 points.
Nike Inc fell 2.1% after it forecast first-quarter revenue below Wall Street expectations.
Carnival Corp jumped 7.7% after Jefferies upgraded the cruise operator's stock to "buy" from "hold".
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 4.99-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and 2.47-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 67 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 76 new highs and 24 new lows.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar, Johann M Cherian and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
