The S&P 500 hit an all-time high of 5,000 points late in trading on Thursday, then fell just before the close.
It is the first time that the index, which tracks the performance of the 500 largest public companies in the United States, has surpassed this historical level.
Huge profits from companies like Amazon, Meta and NVIDIA in recent days have helped convince investors that the United States has avoided a recession and that Americans are willing to spend.
Stocks that moved the needle on Thursday included chipmaker and NVIDIA rival Arm Holdings, which gained 48 percent after better-than-expected earnings.
The S&P 500 hit an all-time high of 5,000 on Thursday. In the photo, a trader at the New York Stock Exchange dribbling a basketball.
“It’ll be a good headline, but in perspective, it’s another stop in this ridiculous rally we’ve seen,” said Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, as reported by CNBC.
“I think the market is tired, this rally is tired,” he added.
The current rally that took the S&P to the 5,000 level began in late October, when expectations that high interest rates would finally come down caused the price of government bonds to rise.
Growth has also been fueled by a group of technology stocks known as the ‘Magnificent Seven’, many of which saw a boom last year thanks to the hype around AI.
This year, strong overall earnings for U.S. companies have been accompanied by continued expectations that the Federal Reserve will eventually lower benchmark interest rates.
Doing so would reduce the high cost of borrowing currently facing American consumers and businesses, injecting more money into the economy and preparing it for greater growth.
Large companies have reported big profits this week.
The Walt Disney Co. jumped 12.9 percent after it reported higher profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It benefited from cost cuts and the growth of its theme parks.