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S&P 500 closes at record as interest rates retreat
The S&P 500 set a record closing high for the third time this week as interest rates further cooled-off on Thursday.The Dow waffled throughout the session but finally ended 57 points higher. The S&P 500 tacked on 17 points. The Nasdaq outperformed by far, in a 140-point surge.Large cap tech names are in favor once again, as Art Hogan, chief market strategist, National Securities – points out. “So I think we threw all of technology out – the baby with the bathwater – in the first quarter in that rotation, and as interest rates started inching up and then we realized, wait a second, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, all have earnings in the here and now and actually can be measured on a multiple of price to earnings. So I think that has gotten investors back into those names.”Investors had to overlook a surprise rise in unemployment claims for the second week in a row. New applications for jobless benefits rose to 744,000 – that’s in contrast to other economic data suggesting the economic rebound is firmly in place. As of late March, 18.2 million received some sort of government unemployment assistance.Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell highlighted that as a key concern during an International Monetary Fund panel.”So it’s important to remember, we’re not going back to the same economy. This will be a different economy. And one of the things we hear from from companies is that they’ve spent a lot…
