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By Nicholas Jasinski |  Wednesday, May 27

Opposite Day. "Risk-on" was once again the mantra on Wall Street today. Buying intensified through the session, pushing U.S. stock indexes past a pair of symbolic milestones. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.2% to its first close above 25,000 points since March 10, and the S&P 500 rose 1.5% to surpass 3,000 for the first time since March 5. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.8%, held back by a weak showing from large technology stocks. 

Following recent days' pattern, shares of the companies whose operations are most sensitive to the coronavirus and the health of the economy rallied the most. Investors' focus remains on reopenings across the country and the potential for more economic stimulus in the U.S. News on that front from both Europe and Japan added a boost as well.

Since February, investors have rewarded companies with secular growth drivers and resilience to the coronavirus crisis. In recent weeks, however, as confidence in a sooner-than-expected return to normal has grown, the beaten-up laggards of the coronavirus market have handily outperformed the previous winners.

That continued today. All 11 sectors in the S&P 500 closed in the green, but shares in financials, industrials, and other cyclical sectors soared. Technology stocks, on the other hand, were in negative territory for most of the session and closed as the worst-performing sector.

Retailers, cruise lines, and banks were among the industries that led the market higher. Software companies, pharmaceuticals, gold miners, and videogame makers rose the least or fell. It’s a bet on a recovery, and a mirror image of their overall 2020 performance.

Meanwhile, in a hark back to 2019's predominant investor worry, U.S.-China relations continue to worsen. That's yet to make a dent in stocks' recent rally, but investors shouldn't dismiss the near-daily drumbeat of rising tensions. Barron's Reshma Kapadia has more on the latest.