Morning Report: US sharemarkets advanced on Thursday

Investors bet the US Federal Reserve will maintain its stimulus even as consumer prices data rose more than forecast in May. Shares of Amazon (+2.1%), Microsoft (+1.4%) and Tesla (+1.9%) boosted the Nasdaq index. Pfizer shares rose 2.2% on a US$3.5 billion US government Covid-19 vaccine deal. Boeing shares lifted 0.1% on a possible United Airlines order. But large banks JPMorgan Chase (-1.6%), Bank of America (-1.5%) and Wells Fargo (-1.8%) all lagged. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones index was up by 19 points or 0.1%. The S&P 500 index climbed by 0.5% to a record closing high. And the Nasdaq index was higher by 108.5 points or 0.8%.