The S&P 500 rose to a historic high on Wednesday as stocks advanced by one per cent in a broad rally, with technology shares among the strongest of the day.
Reuters reports that for the second day in a row, cyclical shares advanced as investors bought into the sector, which has lagged other sectors recently.
As these groups are closely tied to the pace of economic growth, many investors viewed the advance as a sign that the rally has staying power.
The S&P 500 broke past its previous all-time intraday high of 1,576.09, which was set on October 11, 2007, rising as high as 1,587.80. The Dow hit yet another intraday milestone, rising as high as 14,817.06.
“The path of least resistance for the market remains higher, and despite some mixed economic data, investors are concluding that stocks remain a better place to be than risk-free assets,” said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Chicago-based Northern Trust Global Investments, which has about $760bn in assets under management.
Gains were broad, with all but two of the S&P’s 10 primary sectors up more than one per cent. About three-fourths of stocks traded on both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq were higher on the day.
Tech was the day’s strongest group, with the S&P technology sector up by 1.8 per cent. The group was lifted by strong results at Adtran Incorporated, which jumped by 12.6 per cent to $22.19 and boosted peer companies.
JDS Uniphase Corporation added 5.7 per cent to $14.11 while Juniper Networks Incorporated rose by 5.4 per cent to $18.97.