Stocks closed higher again as more fear evaporates from Wall Street.
The S&P 500 added 0.6% Thursday, its fifth gain in the last six days. The benchmark index is headed for a gain in March after struggling in earlier weeks on worries about whether the banking system was cracking under the weight of higher interest rates.
Forceful actions by regulators worldwide have helped restore confidence. Also boosting stocks have been big bets that the Federal Reserve may cut rates in coming months. But such expectations are also raising concerns of their own for some professionals on Wall Street.
On Thursday:
The S&P 500 rose 23.02 points, or 0.6%, to 4,050.83.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 141.43 points, or 0.4%, to 32,859.03.
The Nasdaq composite rose 87.24 points, or 0.7% to 12,013.47.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.22 points, or 0.2%, to 1,768.38.
For the week:
The S&P 500 is up 79.84 points, or 2%.
The Dow is up 621.50 points, or 1.9%.
The Nasdaq is up 189.51 points, or 1.6%.
The Russell 2000 is up 33.46 points, or 1.9%.
For the year:
The S&P 500 is up 211.33 points, or 5.5%.
The Dow is down 288.22 points, or 0.9%.
The Nasdaq is up 1,546.99 points, or 14.8%.
The Russell 2000 is up 7.14 points, or 0.4%.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
