Market closes higher, setting S&P 500 milestone

NEW YORK — Wall Street kicked April off with a milestone Thursday, as a tech company rally helped drive the S&P 500 past the 4,000 mark for the first time.

The benchmark index finished 1.2% higher a day after closing out the first three months of the year with its fourth straight quarterly gain. Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Google’s parent company were among the winners, along with smaller companies, which stand to benefit from a quickly growing economy. Health care, household goods stocks and utilities were the only laggards.

Technology stocks benefited from another drop in bond yields, which have been the driving force for the market for several weeks. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 1.69% from 1.73% the day before. Higher bond yields make stocks seem more expensive by comparison, and tech stocks are among the most expensive after their significant rise last year. Microsoft rose 2.8%, Facebook gained 1.4%, Amazon.com added 2.2% and Google parent Alphabet closed 3.3% higher.

“What a great way to start the second quarter,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist with TD Ameritrade. “There’s money out there looking to be put to work, and with the quarter ending it looks like people are finding new ways in a new quarter to find opportunities.”

The S&P 500 rose 46.98 to 4,019.87. The index’s latest alltime high is its second in seven days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 171.66 points, or 0.5%, to 33,153.21. The technology-heavy Nasdaq climbed 233.23 points, or 1.8%, to 13,480.11.

Smaller companies continued to notch solid gains. The Russell 2000 index picked up 33.38 points, or 1.5%, to 2,253.90.

The rally capped a holiday-shortened week for the stock market.