The Financial sector (up +1.8%) was at the forefront of another strong session for US equity markets, helped in part by a solid rise in US Treasury yields - Dow jumped +346-points or +1.4% to log its best single session gain since 10 April and highest settlement since 12 March. The broader S&P500 +0.86%, with JPMorgan (up +2.3%) and Goldman Sachs Inc (+1.7%) notable gainers. The technology-centric NASDAQ rose +0.67% to record its third consecutive record all-time closing high (7,689.24) and be +11.4% year-to-date. Tesla Inc soared +9.7% - its biggest single session percentage gain since 4 November, 2015 and highest close (US$319.50) since 16 March - in the wake of the company's annual shareholder meeting at which Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk said that it is “quite likely” the company will make good on its goal to produce 5,000 Model 3 sedans by the end of June. Musk also said that Tesla will be GAAP profitable and will achieve positive net flow in the second half of the year, and it will not need to tap capital markets to shore up its finances. Twitter Inc rose +0.75% a day before its entry into the S&P500 Index. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index rose +0.68% to another record closing high (and is up +9.2% year-to-date). Investors also continued to monitor trade developments.
