Dow crests 34,000 on more proof that economy is recovering | National News
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A currency trader walks by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 15, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after Wall Street retreated from a record high as major banks reported strong profits at the start of U.S. earnings season.
An employee of a bank walks near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 15, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after Wall Street retreated from a record high as major banks reported strong profits at the start of U.S. earnings season.
A currency trader watches computer monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 15, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after Wall Street retreated from a record high as major banks reported strong profits at the start of U.S. earnings season.
A currency trader watches computer monitors near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 15, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after Wall Street retreated from a record high as major banks reported strong profits at the start of U.S. earnings season.
A currency trader walks by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 15, 2021. Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after Wall Street retreated from a record high as major banks reported strong profits at the start of U.S. earnings season.
FILE – In this Jan. 13, 2021 file photo, people walk by the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street as traders welcome some strong reports on the economy including a drop in jobless claims and a big increase in retail spending, as well as more robust earnings from big companies including Citigroup and United Healthcare
Wall Street notched more milestones Thursday, as a broad market rally pushed the S&P 500 to an all-time high and the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed above the 34,000 mark for the first time.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1%, with technology, health care and communication stocks accounting for much of the upward moves. Only energy and financial companies closed lower. Bond yields fell.
The rally came as investors welcomed a suite of encouraging economic reports showing how hungry Americans are to spend again, how fewer workers are losing their jobs and how much fatter corporate profits are getting.
Expectations are very high on Wall Street that the economy — and thus corporate profits — are in the midst of exploding out of the cavern created by the pandemic, thanks to COVID-19 vaccinations and massive support from the U.S. government and Federal Reserve. New data on retail sales and jobless claims Thursday helped bolster the view that the economic recovery is accelerating.
“Another day, another record,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. “The stock market continues to validate the optimistic forecasts from last year, which predicted a strong economy that was driven by consumers emerging from their homes, emboldened by vaccinations or by a belief that the worst of COVID was behind us.”
