Stocks Close to Daily Highs Headed into Last Few Hours of Trade

Equities headed through the second half of trade close to session highs, and well within striking distance of the contract high for ESU3 at 4493.75. Positive momentum triggered by a strong buying bias at the open, with the NYSE Tick Index showing a net of 1695 names bought at the bell - that's the highest level since May 10th. Month-, quarter- and half-year-end themes appear to be fading, with equity strength coming despite month-end models indicating a need for a rotation into bonds, from equities, for June.

• The NASDAQ outperforms thanks to a solid contribution from tech bluechips: Apple has extended the year's rally to touch an alltime high and tip market cap above $3trl. The Dow Jones underperforms, higher by just 0.8% as a drop in Nike share hinders any advance.
• Tech names are the outperformers across the S&P500, with consumer discretionary not far behind. Real estate names are the sole laggards alongside a general flattening bias in the US sovereign curve.
• 6 stocks are higher for every 1 lower so far in the S&P 500. Single name standouts include NVIDIA (+3.9%) as the AI trade extends: company was subject to a broker upgrade pre-market, and the strong subscription to Inflection AI's fund-raising boosts the profile of the sector.
• NIKE are one of the poorest performers, down over 2.5% post-earnings late yesterday. The company reported a miss on EPS and disappointed on revenue guidance.