S&P 500 Closes at Record High

Stocks marched broadly higher on Wall Street Thursday afternoon, helping the S&P 500 to close at an all-time high. The benchmark index rose 27 points to 2,954; the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 249 points to 26,753; and the Nasdaq composite rose 64 points to 8,051. All three gains were close to the 1% mark. The rally came as investors balanced optimism over the possibility that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in response to a slowing global economy and jitters about the prospects of dimmer corporate profits should a severe slowdown take hold, per the AP.

Those worries continued to fuel demand for US government bonds, sending yields on the 10-year Treasury note down to 2%, the lowest level since November 2016. "If the Fed is going to cut rates it means that the economic environment is slowing down," said Lindsey Bell, investment strategist at CFRA. "You have investors looking to bonds to hide out in. You're also seeing a big move up in gold on the back of the Fed's decision as well." A strong rebound for stocks this month has erased the S&P 500's losses from May, when jitters over the escalating trade conflict between the US and China knocked the market into a 6.6% dive. The major US stock indexes are up more than 7% so far this month.

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