The major averages finished mostly higher today as a rebound across mega-cap and tech names pushed the S&P 500 (+0.6%) and Nasdaq Composite (+1.2%) to fresh record highs, while mixed strength in the broader market following another hotter-than-expected inflation reading kept the DJIA (-0.1%) modestly lower.

Stocks opened lower following the release of the April PPI report, as both headline PPI (1.4%; Briefing.com consensus 0.4%) and core PPI (1.0%; Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) came in hotter than expected. The year-over-year readings also accelerated, with headline PPI rising to 6.0% from 4.3% in March and core PPI increasing to 5.2% from 4.0%, reviving concerns that the Fed may need to keep policy restrictive for longer.

There was some upward pressure on longer-dated treasuries, and rate-sensitive pockets of the market generally lagged, but it did not take long for buyers to step in on yesterday's weakness across the tech stocks.

Semiconductors were primed for a rally after yesterday's retreat, and the PHLX Semiconductor Index (+2.6%) handily recovered its losses and extended higher. onsemi (ON 115.71, +11.60, +11.14%) was one of the best-performing S&P 500 components, while NVIDIA (NVDA 225.83, +5.05, +2.29%) provided solid leadership after Bloomberg reported that CEO Jensen Huang will join President Trump on his trip to China.

Elsewhere in the information technology sector (+1.0%), Apple (AAPL 298.87, +4.07, +1.38%) traded to new all-time highs, while software names finished mostly lower.

Mega-cap leadership extended beyond the technology sector, with Alphabet (GOOG 399.06, +15.24, +3.97%) and Meta Platforms (META 616.63, +13.63, +2.26%) pushing the communication services sector (+2.7%) to the top of the leaderboard, while strength in Amazon (AMZN 270.13, +4.31, +1.62%) and Tesla (TSLA 445.17, +11.72, +2.70%) outweighed broad weakness in the consumer discretionary sector (+0.8%).

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF finished 1.0% higher, and the market-weighted S&P 500 (+0.6%) decidedly outperformed the S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index (-0.4%).

Elsewhere in the consumer discretionary sector, Ford Motor (F 13.58, +1.60, +13.30%) finished as the top-performing S&P 500 component following positive analyst commentary from Morgan Stanley around the company's new energy storage business.

Gains across the broader market were generally more modest, though the health care sector (+0.7%) meaningfully expanded upon yesterday's gains.

Meanwhile, four S&P 500 sectors finished lower. The rate-sensitive utilities (-1.3%) and real estate (-0.9%) sectors were among the worst-performers amid rising Treasury yields, while the financials sector (-1.1%) faced broad weakness and underperformance across financial services names.

Headlines surrounding the U.S.-Iran conflict were relatively muted today as President Trump arrived in Beijing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where the leaders are expected to discuss tariffs, the Iran war, and Taiwan over the coming days. Crude oil futures settled today's session $1.29 lower (-1.3%) at $101.01 per barrel. 

Ultimately, strong leadership from mega-cap and AI-linked tech names was enough to push the major indices to fresh record highs, with investors largely brushing off the hotter inflation data and firmer rate backdrop. Even with participation still fairly narrow, the market's largest components continue to do the heavy lifting and keep the broader uptrend intact.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasuries recorded their third consecutive day of losses, while the short end resisted even though the market received a much hotter-than-expected PPI report for April. The U.S. Treasury sold $25 bln in 30-year bonds to weak demand, but the market held its ground after the auction. The 2-year note yield settled down one basis point to 3.99%, the 10-year note yield settled up two basis points to 4.48%, and the 10-year note yield settled up two basis points to 5.05%.

• Russell 2000: +14.6% YTD
• Nasdaq Composite: +13.6% YTD
• S&P Mid Cap 400: +10.6% YTD
• S&P 500: +8.8% YTD
• DJIA: +3.4% YTD

Reviewing today's data:

• Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications 1.7%; Prior -4.4%
• April PPI 1.4% (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%); Prior was revised to 0.7% from 0.5%, April Core PPI 1.0% (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%); Prior was revised to 0.2% from 0.1%
  • The key takeaway from the report is that the surge in producer prices in April wasn't just energy-related. That surge accounted for the bulk of the 2.0% increase in the index for final demand goods, but two-thirds of the "broad-based advance" in the index for final demand services was attributed to a 2.7% increase in margins for final demand trade services.