Telecom Sector On Track For Biggest One-day Gain Since 2009

The S&P telecom sector soared on Thursday and was on track for its biggest one-day percentage increase in more than eight years, boosted by strong results from some of its biggest components. The sector jumped 4.8%, its best day since March 2009, according to FactSet data. Thursday marks the third straight daily increase for the industry, a period over which it has gained about 8%. Despite that, telecom remains one of the laggards of the year, down 8.7% for 2017. The rally came after Verizon Communications Inc. popped 6.9% on the back of second-quarter revenue that beat expectations, as well as an expansion of its unlimited wireless data plan, which helped it recover from a net subscriber loss in the first quarter. AT&T Inc. gained 3.3% on Thursday, building on a rally the shares had on Wednesday, which came in the wake of the company's own results, when it posted a profit that topped analyst forecasts. The S&P 500 dipped 0.4% on Thursday.