Thursday

Stocks climbed today, as investors looked to break a six-day losing streak. Leading the gainers were material and energy stocks, with DuPont rising 2%, Chevron gaining 1.8%, 3M advancing 1.6%, and Caterpillar up 1.5%. Financial stocks, the worst performer so far this week, bounced back strongly as well. Pushing on the upside was an unexpected contraction in the U.S. trade deficit in April, to its lowest level of the year, as exports hit a new high and purchases of oil fell sharply amid a surge in prices. DJIA +75.42 Nasdaq +9.49 S&P 500 +9.44.