US stocks mark record close; Dow up 350 points

US stocks rallied on May 15, amid a drop in bond yields to lowest levels in five weeks, following the slowdown of core annual inflation rate to its lowest level in three years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 349 points, or 0.9%, closing at 39,908 points, to hit a record close for the 18th time since the beginning of 2024.

The S&P 500 index rose by 1.15%, or 61 points, to 5,308, hitting a record close for the 23rd time since the begining of 2024. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.4% or by 231 points, to 16,742 points.

The S&P 500 index for the IT sector increased by 2.3%, with the rise of the stocks of NVIDIA, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Alphabet and Apple by 3.6%, 2%, 1.75%, 1.25% and 1.2%, respectively.

Elsewhere, the STOXX Europe 600 Index added 0.6% to 524.7 points, hitting its 7th record close this month, while gains were limited by a decline in the energy, mining, and automobile sectors.

FTSE 100 ended up 0.2% at 8,445 points. Germany’s DAX 40 Index edged up 0.8% to 18,869 points and the French CAC 40 index gained 0.15% to 8,239 points.

The Nikkei 225 rose 0.1% or 40 points, to finish at 38,396 points. TOPIX inched up 0.15% to 2,734 points.

Brent crude futures for July delivery rose 0.45%, or 37 cents, at $82.75 per barrel, after falling during the session to $81.05.

WTI crude for June delivery rose 0.8%, or 61 cents, to record $78.63 per barrel, after falling during trading to $76.70.

Gold futures for June delivery leapt 1.5%, or $35, to $2,394.90.

The annual US consumer price inflation rate, excluding volatile items such as food and energy, declined to its lowest pace since April 2021, reaching 3.6% in April, down from 3.8% in March, in line with market expectations.