The S&P 500 index ended last week at a record high, welcome news for Americans’ retirement accounts.
The benchmark index closed up 1.2% Friday to beat its previous record from January 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average – which surpassed its 2022 peak last month – also closed at a new record Friday, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.7%.
The milestones follow major stock market declines in 2022, Wall Street’s worst year since the Great Recession. At the time, investors were concerned about high inflation, high interest rates and a potential recession, and the S&P 500 dipped about 20%.
“It took more than two years, but the S&P 500 finally made it back to new all-time highs,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at financial services firm Carson Group. “This is a great reminder to investors that although we’ve seen many worries and concerns over the past two years, investors are usually rewarded over time.”
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Why are stock markets up?
Tech stocks helped push the S&P 500 to new heights Friday, with chipmaker Nvidia up 4.2%, Texas Instruments gaining 4% and semiconductor giant Broadcom rising 5.9%.
Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at investment research and analytics firm CFRA Research, noted that tech companies have done a good job of managing expectations in recent quarters. Now, he said, investors may be thinking that Wall Street is “underestimating the kind…
