The market appears to be moving in line with gains, with sentiment reversing the following Friday a few high-profile technical disappointments. Index futures pointed to a moderately lower open. The Fed’s favorite indicator of inflation — the core price consumer spending index, which is released as part of the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s personal income and spending report — could also be in the spotlight ahead of next week’s Fed meeting.

Notes from Thursday’s trading:

Stocks rallied out of the gates on Thursday armed with optimism about the earnings season that followed Meta Platforms, Inc. META reported robust quarterly results.

The major moving averages rose steadily throughout the session before closing near the session highs.

Communication services stocks led the way, with the related sector index jumping over 5.53%. All 11 S&P sector classes ended the session in the green, underscoring the broad-based nature of the strength.

Analyst Color:

The Fed clearly needs to raise rates due to inflation and will continue to raise rates pending a slowdown, he said Chris Zacarelli, Chief Investment Officer at Independent Advisor Alliance.

“This is exactly the kind of outcome the market isn’t expecting, and it could easily throw a wrench into the growth over value and crowding out of tech themes we’ve seen throughout the year,” he added.

The analyst based his conclusion on the first-quarter GDP report, which showed lower-than-expected growth, and the inflation component of the report, which exceeded target and also accelerated.

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