After initially seeing modest strength, stocks moved steadily higher throughout much of the trading day on Friday. The markets continued to benefit from optimism about the likelihood of further stimulus measures from the world's central banks.
Most of the major sectors moved to the upside over the course of the trading day, reflecting broad based buying interest on Wall Street.
Software stocks posted particularly strong gains, driving the Dow Jones Software Index up by 2.5 percent. Nuance Communications (NUAN) and Oracle (ORCL) turned in two of the software sector's best performances following analyst upgrades.
Considerable strength also emerged among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.7 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. ArcelorMittal (MT), Olympic Steel (ZEUS), and Schnitzer Steel (SCHN) posted notable gains.
Natural gas stocks also saw significant strength on the day, resulting in a 2.1 percent gain by the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index. Electronic storage, chemical, oil service, and brokerage stocks also turned in particularly strong performances.
The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the session near their best levels of the day. The Dow climbed 115.26 points or 0.9 percent to 12,767.17, the Nasdaq jumped 36.47 points or 1.3 percent to 2,872.80 and the S&P 500 surged up 13.74 points or 1 percent to 1,342.84.
With the gains on the day, the major averages all moved higher for the second straight week. The Nasdaq rose by 0.5 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 advanced by 1.7 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.
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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.