NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th November, 2021) Wall Street's S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes closed at their highest levels ever on Thursday as investors bet on the momentum of recovery in the world's largest economy despite fears of inflation.
The S&P 500 closed up 18 points, or 0.4%, at 4,707. That was the highest close ever for the index comprising the top 500 US stocks. The intraday peak of 4,709, however, fell short of the S&P 500's all-time high of 4,718 notched on November 5.
Nasdaq Composite, which groups Big Tech Names such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google, finished up 72 points, or 0.5%, at 15,994 for what was also its highest settlement. The tech-laced index hit an intraday high of 16,011, versus its all-time high of 16,053 on November 5.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which lists mostly broad-based industrial stocks, was the laggard of the day, closing down 60 points, or 0.2%, at 35,871.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rallied as investors sought quality stocks against the backdrop of the strong US economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, analysts said.
"Wall Street only wants to focus on inflationary themes, the strength of the US consumer (and) possible shifts on pricing pressure views" amid inflation growing at its fastest pace in 30 years, Ed Moya, analyst at the online trading platform OANDA, said.
The United States is expected to show good economic momentum in 2022 and possibly reach maximum employment, Federal Reserve of Chicago President Charles Evan said Thursday.
Weekly US employment data released earlier in the day showed just 268,000 filing for jobless benefits last week, marking a new pandemic-era low.
