S&P 500 Index Today: SPY Recovers as Business Activity Rises, Jobless Claims Fall

The S&P 500 (SPX) has oscillated several times between positive and negative territory today as the market digests the House approving President Trump’s tax-and-spending bill amid new economic data.

The benchmark index opened the Thursday trading session in the green after initial jobless claims fell to 227,000 from 229,000. The amount of people submitting new applications for unemployment benefits was below the 230,000 estimate, pointing to a strong job market.

Later on, the S&P Global Flash U.S. composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) provided another encouraging signal for the market. The May composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which surveys manufacturing and services managers from a variety of industries, came in at 52.6, improving from April’s reading of 50.6. A reading above 50 signals growth while a reading below 50 signals a contraction.

The S&P 500 is up by 0.25% at the time of writing.

Which Stocks are Moving the S&P 500?

Let’s pivot to TipRank’s S&P 500 Heatmap, which shows the stocks that are responsible for the index’s price action.

Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) and Tesla (TSLA) are two big winners contributing to the S&P 500’s gains on Thursday. Google is still moving higher following its I/O Conference, which received praise from several Wall Street analysts. Meanwhile, TSLA is catching a bid, despite the Senate voting to block California’s mandate to phase-out gas vehicles. Other sectors within the index, like financials and industrials, are relatively muted on the day.

SPY Stock Moves Higher with the S&P 500

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is an exchange-traded fund designed to track the performance of the S&P 500.

Wall Street analysts believe that SPY is a “Moderate Buy.” During the past three months, these analysts have issued an average SPY price target of $665.41 for the stocks within the index, implying upside of 13.79% from current prices. The 504 stocks in the SPY carry 421 buy ratings, 76 hold ratings, and 8 sell ratings.