US markets sharply higher, buoyed by a strong rally for the benchmark indices in the closing hour of trading - Dow rallied +348-points or +1.39% (and back above >25,000). The broader S&P500 jumped +43-points or +1.60% (to 2,747.3), with advances of more than >2% for the energy and technology sectors leading a broad-based rally that saw the index move back above its 50-day moving average and erase its losses for the week. The S&P500 also broke above its Fibonacci retracement level between 2,742 and 2,744 - a level that represents a retracement of ~68% of its recent correction and viewed by many technical analysts as a significant marker. The NASDAQ surged +1.77% higher, snapping a four session slide in convincing fashion and leaving the technology-centric index just 2.2% shy of its all time January 26 peak (7,505.77). The so-called FAANG stocks - Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet - are now up a combined +18.4% year-to-date versus the S&P500 index +2.9%. For the week, the Dow climbed +0.36% (to record its largest two-week gain - up +4.6% - since 18 November, 2016), S&P500 +0.55% (to similarly log it best two-week advance - up +4.9% - since 13 February 2015) and the NASDAQ +1.35% (to be up +6.7% over the past fortnight - the best two-week stretch since 31 October, 2014).
