The Wall Street bull apparently is not superstitious, as it shrugged off ‘Friday the 13th’ fears and raced higher, with the Dow topping 18,000 for the first time this year and the S&P 500-stock index hitting a fresh intra-day record.
Stocks opened sharply higher Friday as Wall Street was hopeful that Greece and its creditors can hammer out a deal on the debt-strapped country’s bailout when talks resume Monday. Markets were also boosted by the positive stock action itself, as the broad market has busted out to new highs after an early-year drop of 5%, which is a positive development, say analysts that glean market strength by how healthy stock charts look.
Strong economic data out of Europe also gave markets a lift, as did a continued rebound in oil prices. U.S. crude, which is getting a boost from the Ukraine-Russia cease-fire announced yesterday, was up another 3.6% to $ 53.07 a barrel, which boosted energy shares.
The new-high party on Wall Street, which went on hiatus after the end of 2014, has resumed. The S&P 500 is on track for its first record close of 2015, after 53 record closes last year and 45 record-setting closes in 2013. The Dow is within 30 points of its Dec. 26, 2014, record high of 18,053.71.
At 11:15 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 51 points, or 0.3%, to 18,023, its first rise above 18,000 since December 2014. The Standard & Poor’s 500 hit an intra-day record of 2094.74 and was up 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite was also up 0.3% at 4874 and at a fresh 15 year high.
Stocks have gotten a lift in recent weeks by firming oil prices, a cease-fire announced by Russian and Ukraine, hopes for a deal between Greece and its creditors on Monday and a solid fourth-quarter earnings season.
U.S. investors shrugged off a weaker-than-expecting reading on February consumer confidence from the University of Michigan.
Hopes for a resolution to the Greek debt crisis is a key pillar of the recent rally.
Says Alex Eppstein, analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment Research: “Encouraging a risk-on attitude among investors is news that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has agreed to meet with representatives from the troika of international lenders to discuss the nation’s debt problems, with government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis telling reporters the country will ‘do whatever we can so that a deal is found on Monday.’”
In Asia, stocks had a mixed close. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipped 0.4%, while Hong Kong’s Heng Seng rose 1.1%.
In Europe, markets are up: Germany’s DAX is 0.4% higher, Britain’s FTSE 100 is 0.7% higher and France’s CAC 40 is up 0.7%.
Helping drive the gains is the Friday release of German data that showed the country’s economy had grown in 2014’s fourth quarter at a better-than-expected rate of 0.7%. There was also good economic news for the eurozone, with fourth-quarter GDP rising a stronger-than-expected 0.3%. For the full year 2014, eurozone GDP rose 0.9%, compared to a contraction of 0.4% in 2013, according to Barclays.
“It was a positive surprise,” Barclays said.
Any sign of economic strength in Europe is viewed bullishly, especially Germany, which is the strongest economy in the slow-growth eurozone.
After Thursday’s rally, the S&P 500 started today’s session is within 2 points, or 0.1%, of its Dec. 29, 2014 record close of 2090.57. If it can close at a new high, it would mark its first new record of 2015.
Similarly, the Dow kicked off the day just 81 points, or 0.5%, shy of its December all-time high.
The small-cap Russell 2000 stock index also is trading higher today and making a run at its Dec. 29, 2014 closing record of 1219.11. The index was within one point of its old record in late-morning trading.
Here’s a Top 5 list of the years with the most record highs posted by the S&P 500:
Most S&P 500 closing high records
1995 / 77
1964 / 62
1928 / 59
2014 / 53
1929 / 48
Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices
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