The stock market posted broad gains today, with cooling geopolitical tensions triggering an intraday slide in oil prices that helped the S&P 500 (+1.8%), Nasdaq Composite (+2.5%), and DJIA (+1.9%) chart session highs throughout the afternoon hours.

Stocks opened mostly higher following the PPI report for May (1.1%; Briefing.com consensus 0.7%), which was hotter than expected at the headline level but also included a downward revision to April's reading. Core PPI (0.4%; Briefing.com consensus 0.4%), however, was in line and likewise included a downward revision to the April figure.

The broader market continued yesterday's trend of solid participation, while semiconductor stocks garnered some buy-the-dip interest after several consecutive weaker sessions. However, action remained somewhat choppy during the first half of the session as other tech names and mega-cap stocks elsewhere struggled. Oracle (ORCL 184.10, -17.16, -8.53%) was a laggard after issuing underwhelming guidance alongside last night's earnings beat, while Alphabet (GOOG 356.56, +3.24, +0.92%) traded more than 2% lower before paring its loss.

Even NVIDIA (NVDA 204.87, +4.45, +2.22%) spent time in negative territory, and by the early afternoon, the S&P 500 was defending its flat line.

The market made a sharp move higher in the early afternoon after President Trump said tonight's round of strikes against Iran had been called off due to progress in finalizing a deal. CBS News later reported that "a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran is likely to be signed early next week, paving the way for further negotiations on a long-term deal."

Crude oil futures settled today's session $2.12 lower (-2.4%) at $87.81 per barrel, leading to improvements across most pockets of the market.

The information technology sector (+2.9%) finished sharply higher, buoyed by a 7.9% gain in the PHLX Semiconductor Index. Memory names such as Sandisk (SNDK 1881.51, +238.28, +14.50%) and Micron (MU 995.87, +103.99, +11.66%) were among the top movers, while machinery names such as Lam Research (LRCX 362.52, +40.72, +12.65%) and Applied Materials (AMAT 552.64, +55.63, +11.19%) also notched double-digit gains.

Elsewhere, the industrials sector (+3.3%) surged as airlines such as United Airlines (UAL 112.61, +9.83, +9.56%) moved sharply higher amid the retreat in oil prices, while electrical product names posted gains in sympathy with semiconductors. The materials sector (+3.3%) captured a similar gain on broad strength, while cruise lines and homebuilders led the consumer discretionary sector (+2.4%) higher in a classic "oil down, rates down, stocks up" fashion.

Tesla (TSLA 399.15, +17.56, +4.60%) provided solid mega-cap leadership, and the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (+1.8%) shook off its early weakness to chart a gain similar to those across the major averages.

Weakness was largely limited to the energy sector (-2.1%), while the consumer staples sector (-0.5%) faced some selling after several sessions of strong rotational buying. The real estate sector (-0.1%) finished slightly lower.

Outside of the S&P 500, the Russell 2000 (+3.0%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+2.6%), which were already outperforming, finished sharply higher amid the afternoon slide in oil prices and interest rates.

Altogether, it was a productive day for stocks, with the retreat in oil prices helping transform an already constructive session into a broad-based rally. The major averages now enter the final session of the week mostly higher, while investors turn their attention to Friday's highly anticipated SpaceX IPO. According to a regulatory filing, the company is offering 555.6 million shares at $135 per share, a development that helped fuel gains across space and rocket-related stocks today. At the same time, some analysts continue to suggest that preparations for the offering may be contributing to recent volatility across mega-cap and technology stocks as investors raise cash and reposition portfolios ahead of the debut.

U.S. Treasuries recorded solid gains on Thursday after an early continuation of this week's sideways drift gave way to a late rally that sent yields toward their closing levels from last Thursday. The 2-year note yield settled down seven basis points to 4.07%, and the 10-year note yield settled down eight basis points to 4.46%. 

• Russell 2000: +17.7% YTD
• S&P Mid Cap 400: +14.1% YTD
• Nasdaq Composite: +11.1% YTD
• S&P 500: +8.0% YTD
• DJIA: +5.8% YTD

Reviewing today's data:

• May PPI 1.1% (Briefing.com consensus 0.7%); Prior was revised to 1.1% from 1.4%, May Core PPI 0.4% (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%); Prior was revised to 0.7% from 1.0%
  • The key takeaway from the report is that producers aren't finding much price relief; hence, consumers won't find much price relief in the near-term either, unless producers choose to absorb the higher costs.
• Weekly Initial Claims 229K (Briefing.com consensus 222K); Prior was revised to 225K from 215K, Weekly Continuing Claims 1.795 mln; Prior was revised to 1.771 mln from 1.786 mln
  • Jobless claims were higher in the latest week, but the key takeaway remains that they are not at levels that would connote a material degradation of the labor market.