October 11, 2024

Cocoabar21 Clinton

Truly Business

Tech company gains help push S&P 500 to record high | National News

Wall Street capped another week of gains with more milestones Friday, as strength in technology and health care stocks helped push the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average to all-time highs.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8% for its fourth record high this week and third straight weekly gain. The Dow’s latest milestone followed an all-time high on Monday.

Stocks have benefited this week as bond yields, which had been steadily ticking higher, retreated from highs hit earlier in the month. Higher yields can slow down the economy by pushing up interest rates, making it more expensive for people and businesses to borrow money. Bond yields rose Friday, but that didn’t weigh on stocks.

“The S&P 500 finished at another all-time high today as investors have become comfortable enough with the current level of interest rates and inflation to keep putting money into equities,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance.

A late-afternoon burst of buying pushed the major stock indexes higher. The S&P 500 rose 31.63 points to 4,128.80. The Dow gained 297.03 points, or 0.9%, to 33,800.60. The Nasdaq composite picked up 70.88 points, or 0.5%, to 13,900.19.

Small company stocks, which have outgained the broader market this year, lagged behind on Friday. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies inched up 0.88 points, or less than 0.1%, to 2,243.47. Still, the index is up 13.6% so far this year, while the S&P 500, which tracks large companies, is up 9.9%.

cocoabar21clinton.com | Newsphere by AF themes.