After moving sharply higher in early trading on Wednesday, stocks are seeing continued strength in the late morning. The major averages remain in positive territory, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq is outperforming its counterparts by a wide margin.
The markets have benefited from a positive reaction to quarterly results from tech giant Apple (AAPL), which reported much better than expected second quarter earnings. Apple, the world's largest publicly-traded company by market capitalization, has risen by 8.9 percent on the news.
While tech stocks have moved higher on the news from Apple, considerable strength is also visible among healthcare provider stocks. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the Morgan Stanley Healthcare Provider Index has surged up by 3 percent.
Kindred Healthcare (KND) is helping to lead the healthcare provider sector higher, surging up by 21.9 percent on news that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed spreading out a reduction in reimbursement-payment rates for nursing home operators over three years.
Chemical, railroad, and biotechnology stocks also continue to post strong gains on the day, although buying interest has waned from earlier in the session.
The major averages have pulled back off their highs for the session but remain firmly in positive territory. The Dow is up 77.58 points or 0.6 percent at 13,079.14, the Nasdaq is up 57.58 points or 1.9 percent at 3,019.18 and the S&P 500 is up 14.02 points or 1 percent at 1,385.99.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.