Goldman Sachs raised its forecast for the S&P 500 index at the end of 2026 to 8,000 from 7,600.
issued Thursday, May 28, 2026 · 05:59 AM
[NEW YORK] Rising health care and consumer staples stocks pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a new closing high on Wednesday (May 27), while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were firm as investors took a break from an artificial intelligence-driven rally while keeping a close eye on Middle East peace talks.
The partial rally was enough to close the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq at record highs for the second day in a row.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. shares fell 2.4% and bank stocks fell after Chief Executive Jamie Dimon warned that spending this year could be $1 billion higher than expected.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said some progress had been made in negotiations toward a deal with Iran. However, US President Donald Trump said there were still issues to be resolved between the US and Iran, and Iran’s Fars news agency reported that unresolved issues remained.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which also hit record highs on Friday and Thursday, was buoyed by a rotation into health care and consumer stocks. Procter & Gamble’s stock rose 3.2%. UnitedHealth rose 1.9%.
A decline in semiconductor stocks weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 182.60 points, or 0.36%, to 50,644.28, the S&P 500 rose 1.24 points, or 0.02%, to 7,520.36, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 18.55 points, or 0.07%, to 26,674.73.
“After such a big rally in the market, it’s not surprising to see some stagnation,” said Sean Clark, chief investment officer at Clark Capital Management Group.
“There are a lot of positives to note at the moment. Even though the companies that are performing are really driven by technology, AI, and AI-related themes, I don’t discount the fact that the broader market is participating as well.”
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Among sub-indices, consumer discretionary stocks led the way, rising 1.9%.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Energy Index fell by 1.5% as crude oil prices fell by up to 5%. Tech stocks fell after hitting an all-time high on Tuesday.
Chip stocks fell after a strong rally. Intel fell 1.4%, Marvell Technology fell 4.6% and Qualcomm fell 6% after surging on Tuesday.
Semiconductor giant Nvidia fell 1%, and the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index fell 1.4% after hitting a record high on Tuesday.
“Technology leadership remains difficult to ignore, and the sector continues to set new highs relative to the broader market, both in absolute and relative terms,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial.
“However, the increasingly sluggish momentum situation and high positioning raise questions about the sustainability of short-term progress.”
Zscaler fell 31.5% after the cloud security company said it expected fourth-quarter revenue to be lower than expected.
Among other gainers, GlobalFoundries fell 9.8% after Bloomberg News reported that major shareholder Mubadala Investment Company is seeking to raise US$1.91 billion through an unregistered bulk sale of GFS shares.
Bath & Body Works rose 9.7% after first-quarter sales and profits beat expectations, while Abercrombie & Fitch advanced with a strong quarterly profit.
Goldman Sachs raised its forecast for the S&P 500 index at the end of 2026 from 7,600 to 8,000, citing continued strong corporate earnings.
The market will next focus on Thursday’s Personal Consumption Expenditure Index data. The Fed’s key inflation measure could provide new clues about the future path of monetary policy under new Chairman Kevin Warsh.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining issues on the New York Stock Exchange by a 1.13-to-1 ratio. On the New York Stock Exchange, 453 stocks hit new highs and 99 stocks hit new lows.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing issues on the Nasdaq by a 1.03-to-1 ratio, with 2,420 advancing issues and 2,498 declining issues.
The S&P 500 Index recorded 37 new highs and eight new lows in 52 weeks, while the Nasdaq Composite Index recorded 169 new highs and 74 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 18.81 billion shares, with the average overall trading volume over the past 20 trading days being 18.78 billion shares. Reuters
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