S&P 500 finishes at record as US stocks advance
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Traders working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, in New York City.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK – The S&P 500 finished at a fresh record on March 19, as US stocks shook off a lacklustre open to move higher ahead of a Federal Reserve decision.
All three major indexes advanced, with the S&P 500 at 5,178.51, up 0.6 per cent, topping a record set a week ago.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.8 per cent to 39,110.76, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.4 per cent to 16,166.79.
Major indexes had opened mostly lower after the Bank of Japan finally pivoted its monetary policy, becoming the last major central bank to lift interest rates.
The decision came ahead of the March 20 announcement by the Fed.
While the US central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged, its decision will be analysed as far as setting expectations for future interest rate cuts.
“The stocks have one eye on the bond market but probably more eyes on Nvidia and all AI things,” said Mr Karl Haeling of LBBW, as investors digested Nvidia’s latest announcement about new artificial intelligence offerings.
“That market doesn’t go down for very long,” Mr Haeling said of Nvidia, which finished 1.1 per cent up after starting the day lower.
Among other individual stocks, Nordstrom surged 9.4 per cent following a report that the department store chain could go private. AFP
