Traders are adding back risk and that is bullish for the indexes in general. I still expect the benchmark S&P 500 (SPX) to test the record high at 4,238 in the near term, notes Jon Markman of Pivotal Point.

The Dow rose 0.4%, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite was fractionally lower. Industrials, financials, and materials were among the biggest gainers while the utilities and consumer staples sectors were the steepest decliners. The US 10-year yield advanced to 1.605%.

Breadth favored advancers by a 5-2 margin and there were 479 new one-year highs vs 33 new lows. Major stocks cracking the new high list were Facebook, Toyota, Charles Schwab, Royal Bank of Canada, Raytheon, Stellantis, and Brookfield Asset Management. That’s a respectable basket of cats and dogs.

Shares of Ford (F) -- one of our favorite picks since mid-March -- jumped 7%, the second-highest on the S&P 500. Analysts at Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Tudor, RBC Capital Markets, and Deutsche Bank revised up their price estimate after the automaker said on Wednesday that 40% of its global vehicle volume is expected to be fully electric by 2030 and increased proposed spending on electrification to more than $30 billion by 2025. Right on.

Lifting spirits: Jobless claims were 406,000 for the week ended May 22, down 38,000 from the prior week. Analysts were expecting initial claims of 450,000. The four-week moving average through last Saturday was 458,750, down 46,000 from the previous week, according to the US Department of Labor.

Claims have been declining since April 10, when there was a big downward shift on the back of progression in reopening, according to a Thursday research note from Jefferies.

"Barring a resurgence in virus cases and a reversal of the progress made on reopening, we doubt that we will see a significant back up in claims any time soon," Jefferies economists Thomas Simons and Aneta Markowska said. "With more vaccines being distributed every day, this scenario is becoming less and less likely over time."

Learn more about Jon Markman at Pivotal Point.