Stocks Rally Push S&P 500, Nasdaq To Record Highs

A broad rally for stocks on Wall Street sent the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to new highs Thursday (Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, in Manila) as the market more than made up for modest losses a day earlier, Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: The S&P and Nasdaq saw new highs.

The S&P 500 rose 1%, posting its third all-time high this week. More than 80% of the stocks in the benchmark index closed higher. Technology stocks, banks, and a mix of companies that rely on consumer spending accounted for much of the gains.

The Nasdaq rose 1.4%, nudging the tech-heavy index above its previous record high set Sept. 7. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%, leaving it just shy of the all-time high it set on Tuesday.

Smaller stocks outpaced the broader market in a sign that investors are more confident about economic growth. Bond yields ticked higher and energy futures were mixed.

The S&P 500 index rose 44.74 points to 4,596.42. The index is on pace for its fourth straight weekly gain. The Dow gained 239.79 points to 35,730..48. The Nasdaq rose 212.28 points to 15,448.12.

The Russell 2000 index of small companies climbed 45.49 points, or 2%, to 2,297.98. Technology stocks helped power a big slice of the S&P 500′s gains. KLA, which makes equipment for manufacturing semiconductors, rose 4.3% after beating Wall Street’s fiscal first-quarter profit forecasts.

Apple dropped 3.9% in after-hours trading after the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter revenue fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. Amazon.com also fell 3.6% in after-hours trading after its third-quarter earnings missed analysts’ forecasts

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