Stocks rally to records amid talk relief rates will remain low
Wall Street rallied to records on Friday after the head of the Federal Reserve said it’s still far from pulling interest rates off the record low that’s helped markets soar, even if it does begin dialing back its support for the economy later this year.
The S&P 500 rose 39.37, or 0.9%, to 4,509.37 to top its record high set Wednesday, part of a widespread rally that swept up everything from bonds to gold.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 242.68 points, or 0.7%, to 34,455.80, and the Nasdaq composite gained 183.69, or 1.2%, to 15,129.50.
Stocks have set record after record this year in large part because of the Federal Reserve’s massive efforts to prop up the economy and financial markets.
But the gains had grown more tentative as the beginning of the end of the Fed’s assistance came into sight, now that the unemployment rate has dropped and inflation has picked up.