US Stock Market Summary — May 28, 2026

The US stock market staged a relief rally on May 28 as the closely watched April core PCE reading came in cooler than expected. The S&P 500 rose 0.58% to 7,563 and the Nasdaq climbed 0.91% to 26,917, both notching fresh closing highs, while the Dow ended essentially flat, up 0.05%. Headline PCE printed 3.8% year-over-year, a three-year high, but the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge — the core PCE monthly reading of 0.2%, below the 0.3% consensus — revived expectations of an inflation cooldown. The 10-year Treasury yield pulled back, reinforcing risk-on sentiment. Adding to the bullish backdrop, news that the US and Iran had agreed to extend their ceasefire by 60 days (pending President Trump's signature) triggered a broad rebound in semiconductor and software stocks that had been hit by profit-taking the prior session.

Health care ($XLV +1.4%) led the upside alongside technology ($XLK +1.31%) and consumer discretionary ($XLY +0.42%), while utilities ($XLU -1.13%), financials ($XLF -0.29%) and industrials ($XLI -0.29%) lagged. The semiconductor ETF ($SOXX), which saw heavy profit-taking yesterday, bounced 1.0% to reclaim its leadership status. The cooler PCE print lifted bonds, with long-duration Treasuries ($TLT +0.49%) and intermediate Treasuries ($IEF +0.23%) both advancing; the 10-year yield is now roughly 20 bps below its recent peak. In commodities, natural gas ($UNG +6.35%) surged, while lithium ($LIT +2.3%), copper ($CPER +1.51%) and gold ($GLD +1.05%) posted solid gains; crude oil ($USO -0.19%) was little changed. The Fear & Greed Index held in Greed territory at 60, and the VIX tumbled 3.81% to 15.67, a sharp easing of volatility concerns alongside the inflation relief.

The most striking theme of the session was the rebound in semiconductors and software following yesterday's steep declines. ARM Holdings ($ARM) rocketed 10.76% as a snapback from its prior 5.76% drop, while software names rallied in unison — Palantir ($PLTR +8.17%), Shopify ($SHOP +7.96%), Oracle ($ORCL +6.67%) and AppLovin ($APP +5.65%) all posted strong gains (source). In semiconductors, AMD ($AMD +4.55%) and Qualcomm ($QCOM +4.24%) bounced, and health care heavyweights Eli Lilly ($LLY +4.05%) and Thermo Fisher ($TMO +6.8%) joined the uptrend. Separately, news that AI startup Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation — overtaking OpenAI for the first time — reignited AI investment enthusiasm (source). On the downside, Union Pacific ($UNP -4.43%), Corning ($GLW -4.15%), GE Vernova ($GEV -3.48%) and Caterpillar ($CAT -2.45%) declined as cyclical names saw profit-taking.

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> "The pain trade is still higher. That said, I'm more wary of a 'blow-off top' led by laggards than of the daily record highs."

> — Scott Rubner, Global Markets Strategist at Citadel Securities

> "The equity market is in its top 15% and credit spreads are very tight. I'm skeptical of the general assumption that all of this will eventually work itself out."

> — Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase

The cooler PCE print revived risk appetite, pushing overbought signals on the Nasdaq (RSI 76) and the technology sector (RSI 77) even deeper into overbought territory. However, fresh MACD golden crosses across several semiconductor and software names confirm that short-term upward momentum remains intact. With many leaders simultaneously punching through the upper Bollinger Band, short-term overheating risk is building, and staggered entries are prudent for new positions. For detailed single-name analysis, see the Technical Signals Report.