US equity markets advanced for a third consecutive session and closed near their session highs albeit the benchmark indices have not fully recouped the steep losses of last Wednesday (May 17) - Dow up +90-points or +0.43% and the broader S&P500 +0.52% (with Energy the only laggard sector despite further gains on crude markets). The technology-centric NASDAQ rose +0.82%, its 11th gain in the past 13 sessions.
In US economic data, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) hit its highest level since March 2014, jumping to a positive 0.49 in April (up from 0.07 in March). The CFNAI is a monthly index designed to gauge overall economic activity and related inflationary pressure and is released toward the end of each calendar month.
