The S&P 500 has rallied 1.2% on May 26, topping the 3,000-mark for the first time since Mar 5. The S&P 500 exceeded its 200-day moving average for the first time since early March which is an indication of the start of a long-term bullish trend. Coronavirus vaccine hopes, reopening of economies, some upbeat economic indicators and new pandemic stimulus by the European Union made this possible.

The World Health Organization has recognised some 10 prime candidates for potential COVID-19 vaccines as these have entered clinical trials. Plus, 114 candidate vaccines are in preclinical evaluation stage.  While mRNA-1273 vaccine by Moderna Inc. MRNA is apparently leading the vaccine race, Novavax NVAX said lately that it has started human testing of its coronavirus vaccine candidate, and expects preliminary results for the trial in July.

Consumer spending is very important for U.S. economic wellbeing as it contributes 70% of U.S. GDP. A measure of consumer confidence jumped to 86.6 this month from 85.7 in April, according to the Conference Board. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected consumer confidence of 82.3in May.

Along with some analysts, we too believe that the CARES relief checks and widespread price discounting boosted their attitudes toward buying and probably led to the optimism.  According to a new survey from Piper Sandler, about 47% of the respondents said recently that they will head to restaurants as soon as they reopen.

Things are also shoring up in the pandemic-hit travel and leisure space. Data from hospitality firm STR showed hotel occupancy up 32.4% for the most recently reported week ended May 16, from 21.0% in the period ended Apr 11. However, the latest data is still down 54% year over year.

Meanwhile, new home sales in April topped estimates. Sales of new U.S. single-family homes increased by 623,000 last month, beating estimates of 490,000, according to Dow Jones. While these developments are upbeat for the markets, mammoth Fed and government stimuli are the other tailwinds. Also, Europe is about to announce a new coronavirus stimulus package which could propel markets higher.

Stock Winners

Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few stocks that have a place in the S&P 500 ETF iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV. These stocks gained the most in the past three months and helped attain the key index in regaining the 3,000-mark.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX Quick QuoteMKTX - Free Report) – Up 44.7% in past three months

The Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company is a leading multi-dealer trading platform that offers institutional investors access to global liquidity in products like U.S. high-grade corporate bonds, emerging markets and high-yield bonds, European bonds, U.S. agency bonds, credit derivatives and other fixed-income securities.The stock belongs to a favorable Zacks industry (placed at the top 8% of total 250+ industries in the Zacks universe).

DexCom Inc. (DXCM Quick QuoteDXCM - Free Report) ) – Up 44.7% in past three months

The Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) medical device company focused on the design, development and commercialization of continuous glucose monitoring systems.

Top 28%

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA Quick QuoteNVDA - Free Report) ) – Up 42.9% in past three months

The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company in visual computing technologies and the inventor of the graphic processing unit, or GPU comes from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 26%).

Cabot Oil Gas Corporation  – Up 39.9% in past three months

The Zacks Rank #2 gas exploration company has producing properties mainly in continental United States. It hails from a favorable Zacks industry (top 16%).

PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL Quick QuotePYPL - Free Report) – Up 39.9% in past three months

It is one of the largest online payment solutions providers. It has a Zacks Rank #3 and belongs to a favorable Zacks industry (top 13%).

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