U.S. Financial Shares Rally As Expecations Mount For U.K. To Stay In EU

U.S. financial stocks led the S&P 500's broad-based gains Thursday amid mounting expectations that the U.K. will remain in the European Union as the British went to the polls to determine the country's EU membership. The financials sector rallied 1.5% to push the large cap index higher. "Financials, discretionary, health care, and tech have been hurt while Treasury yields have fallen this year," said Brian Belski, chief investment strategist at BMO Capital Markets, in a report. If the U.K. decides in favor of continued EU membership, it will help to eliminate global uncertainties which will lead to higher bond yields, he said. A pair of polls released early Thursday indicated support for "remain" edging slightly ahead. The S&P 500 rose 15 points, or 0.7%, to 2,100 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 135 points, or 0.8%, to 17,913 and the Nasdaq gained 38 points, or 0.8%, to 4871. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was last trading at 1.739%.