U.S. Stocks Hit New Highs, Energy Sector Leads
With U.S.-Iran ceasefire holding and ongoing optimism regarding a second round of diplomacy between the two sides, U.S. equities continued to make news highs on Thursday, though this time, Energy was the best performing sector as investors bought the recent dip in the oil patch. Mid-cap drillers like Sable Offshoreand Patternson-UTIwere especially well bid with 11% and 5% gains respectively while mega-caps - Exxon Mobil, Shell, and Chevron- each rallied about 2%. Healthcare was the worst performing sector in the S&P 500 amid emboldened animal spirits boosting higher-beta areas of the market at the expense of the defensive sectors.In the opening hour of the evening session, S&P e-minis are up another decimal point at 7,085, with Nasdaq 100 trading flat. In commodities, June - now the active contract for WTI Crude Oil - is below $90 per barrel while May is trading above $93. The steepening backwardation in energy - lower prices down the timeline curve - reflects the extent to which the markets are anticipating a swift normalization of the geopolitical premium.Check out this evening's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.HIGHER AFTER EARNINGS -Cohen & Steersup 0.6%ALSO HIGHER -STMicroelectronics N.V.up 1.3% after being upgraded to Outperform at MizuhoTexas Instrumentsup 1.2% after being upgraded to Neutral at MizuhoF.N.B. Corporationup 0.9%DOWN AFTER EARNINGS -Netflixdown 9.0%Alcoadown 3.6%Simmons First Nationaldown 3.2%ALSO LOWER -Trevi Therapeuticsdown 7.9% after announcing equity offeringKnight-Swift Transportationdown 2.9% after Q1 guidance cutNXP Semiconductors N.V.down 1.5% after being cut to Underperform at Mizuho