S&P 500 breaks 4,000 for the first time

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 percent 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 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 10year U.S. Treasury note fell to 1.69 percent from 1.73 percent 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 percent, Facebook gained 1.4 percent, Amazon.com added 2.2 percent and Google parent Alphabet closed 3.3 percent 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 all-time high is its second in seven days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 171.66 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 33,153.21. The technology-heavy Nasdaq climbed 233.23 points, or 1.8 percent, to 13,480.11.

The rally capped a holiday-shortened week for the stock market. U.S. stock exchanges will be closed in observance of Good Friday.

Consumer sentiment has been improving along with construction spending and other measures. The improving economy is prompting investors to shift more money into companies and sectors that will benefit from people getting back to some semblance of a pre-pandemic normal.

The Labor Department said the number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits rose to 719,000 last week from 658,000 the previous week. That figure was expected to decline. The government will release its monthly jobs report Friday.

“The employment market is going to be the thing to watch,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird. “We’re kind of in a transition period, and at some point we’re going to need to see improvement there.”