U.S. equities and stock exchange traded funds managed to touch new highs as consumer sectors help bolster bullish sentiment and Federal Reserve minutes pointed to gathering momentum in the economy.
The S&P 500 Index, along with related funds including the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV) and Vanguard 500 Index (NYSEArca: VOO), were up 0.4% Thursday.
Among the leading areas of the market, consumer discretionary stocks in the S&P 500 gained 1.0% Thursday, with shares of Best Buy surging 21.0% after the electronics retailer raised profits and sales outlook for the year and revealed quarterly earnings that topped analysts’ estimates.
Analysts also looked to the S&P 500‘s back-to-back gains above the 2,400 level, arguing that the consecutive gains are providing technical support.