US News

Harry Dope · Guest

AP
Stocks Jump, S&P 500 Hits Record Close
Wednesday May 30, 4:33 pm ET
By Joe Bel Bruno, AP Business Writer
Wall Street Advances As Fed Minutes Fail to Surprise, S&P 500 Index Closes
at Record High

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street advanced sharply Wednesday, sending the
Standard & Poor's 500 index to its first record close in more than seven
years, after minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting offered
investors no major surprises about the economy. The Dow Jones industrials
also reached a new high close.
The S&P 500, considered by traders as the best barometer of U.S. stocks,
surpassed the record of 1,527.46, set March 24, 2000, at the peak of the
dot-com boom, closing at 1,530.23, up 12.12, or 0.80 percent, according to
preliminary calculations.

The index of 500 of the nation's biggest companies was powered by investors'
relief over the minutes from the Fed's May 9 meeting of its Open Market
Committee. The central bankers called inflation "uncomfortably high," a
stance that made it less likely that the Fed would act to cut interest
rates. But Wall Street, which had been hoping for signs of a rate reduction,
coped well with that reality -- and were pleased that a rate hike didn't
seem to be in the offing.

The S&P 500, which crossed its closing record on May 21 and then retreated,
remains below its all-time trading high of 1,552.87, also reached in March
2000.

The Dow, the first of the major market indexes to recover from Wall Street's
prolonged slump in the early part of the decade, closed at 13,633.08, up
111.74, or 0.83 percent, and also reached a new trading high of 13,636.09.

The recovery of the S&P 500 comes as the index now has fewer technology
stocks than in 2000. Financial-services companies, which now make up the
largest slice of the index, have helped drive the market's run since the
second half of last year.

By comparison, the Nasdaq isn't expected to reach its closing high of
5,048.62, set March 24, 2000, anytime soon. The tech-dominated index --
which closed up 20.53, or 0.80 percent, at 2,592.59 -- was arguably
overinflated by the rush to join the Internet boom.

The record close for the S&P and Dow came after the markets had opened
sharply lower following a pullback in the often volatile Chinese stock
markets. But, investors remained resilient and pushed stocks higher after
determining China's woes were likely contained and found little reason for
pessimism from the Fed's comments.

Server 13 · Guest

"Harry Dope" <TheWarIsLost@earthlink.net> wrote in message
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Coffee in Madrid · Guest

In article <f3ko4f$o5a$1@news.ks.uiuc.edu>,
"Server 13" <its@casual.com> wrote:

P.Henry · Guest

Harry Dope wrote:

Guest

On Wed, 30 May 2007 16:37:39 -0400, "Harry Dope"
<TheWarIsLost@earthlink.net> wrote:

Rich Travsky · Guest

Harry Dope wrote: