Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 11 months ago on
March 27, 2024

U.S. stocks hit a new high, with S&P 500 leading the surge. Merck, Cintas, and Trump Media & Technology Group among the top performers. (AP/Peter Morgan)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks rose to a record Wednesday after breaking out of their three-day lull.

The S&P 500 climbed 44.91 points, or 0.9%, to 5,248.49. It was the first gain for the index since setting its last all-time high on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 477.75, or 1.2%, to 39,760.08, and the Nasdaq composite gained 83.82, or 0.5%, to 16,399.52. Both finished a bit shy of their own records.

Top Performers

Merck climbed 5% after federal regulators approved its treatment for adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare disease where blood vessels in the lungs thicken and narrow.

Cintas, a provider of work uniforms and office supplies, was another force pushing the S&P 500 upward. It jumped 8.2% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, meanwhile, continued their wild ride and rose another 14.2%. The company behind the money-losing Truth Social platform has zoomed well beyond what critics say is rational, as fans of former president Donald Trump keep pushing it higher.

Robinhood Markets climbed 3.7% after unveiling its first credit card, which is reserved for its subscription-paying Gold members, along with other new products.

Underperformers

On the losing end of Wall Street was Nvidia, which slumped to a second straight loss after screaming 91% higher for the year so far. It sank 2.5%, as some investors may have locked in profits before closing their books on the year’s first quarter. Nvidia has been one of the biggest winners of Wall Street’s frenzy around artificial intelligence.

GameStop tumbled 15% after delivering a profit for the latest quarter and a drop in revenue from the prior year. It’s the original meme stock, predating Trump Media by years, where its price has often moved more on the sentiment of smaller-pocketed investors than on traditional fundamentals like its profit and revenue.

Bond Market Update

In the bond market, Treasury yields slipped on a day with few economic reports to shake things up.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.19% from 4.23% late Tuesday.

This week’s highlight for the bond market may be arriving Friday, when the U.S. government releases the latest monthly update on spending by U.S. consumers. It will include the measure of inflation that the Federal Reserve prefers to use as it sets interest rates.

Both the U.S. bond and stock markets will be closed that day for Good Friday. That could cause some anticipatory trades to bunch up on Thursday. It will be the last trading day of the year’s first quarter, which could further roil things.

Market Outlook

The S&P 500 is on track for a fifth straight winning month and has been roaring higher since late October. The U.S. economy has remained remarkably resilient despite high interest rates meant to get inflation under control. Plus, the Federal Reserve looks set to start lowering interest rates this year because inflation has cooled from its peak.

But critics say a broader range of companies will need to deliver strong profit growth to justify the big moves in prices. Progress on bringing inflation down has also become bumpier recently, with reports this year coming in hotter than expected.

Still, the broad expectation among traders is for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting its main interest rate in June.

Stocks generally tend to do the best when more than half the world’s central banks are easing interest rates, according to Ned Davis Research. The world is not there yet, but several central banks have already begun cutting recently, like Switzerland’s, and it could happen later this year.

Global Market Update

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

Chinese stocks were some of the worst performers. Stocks tumbled 1.4% in Hong Kong and 1.3% in Shanghai.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

CHP K-9 Seizes 50 Pounds of Illicit Mushrooms in Fresno County

DON'T MISS

Saint Agnes to Expand Teaching for Clovis Med School Students

DON'T MISS

Belarus Releases 3 People, Including an American and a Jailed Journalist

DON'T MISS

Need Down Payment Help? Fresno Housing Has $25K for First-Time Homebuyers

DON'T MISS

Pentagon’s New Media Rotation Program Boots NPR, NY Times, NBC News

DON'T MISS

Bredefeld Wants Less Scrutiny for Supervisors’ Discretionary Budget. Pacheco Calls It ‘Ironic.’

DON'T MISS

Senate Confirms Gabbard as Trump’s Director of National Intelligence

DON'T MISS

President Trump and Putin Have Agreed to Start Negotiations to End the Ukraine War

DON'T MISS

Google Calendar Users No Longer See Default Entries for Events Like Pride, Black History Month

DON'T MISS

Apple Changes Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on Maps

UP NEXT

Saint Agnes to Expand Teaching for Clovis Med School Students

UP NEXT

Belarus Releases 3 People, Including an American and a Jailed Journalist

UP NEXT

Need Down Payment Help? Fresno Housing Has $25K for First-Time Homebuyers

UP NEXT

Pentagon’s New Media Rotation Program Boots NPR, NY Times, NBC News

UP NEXT

Bredefeld Wants Less Scrutiny for Supervisors’ Discretionary Budget. Pacheco Calls It ‘Ironic.’

UP NEXT

Senate Confirms Gabbard as Trump’s Director of National Intelligence

UP NEXT

President Trump and Putin Have Agreed to Start Negotiations to End the Ukraine War

UP NEXT

Google Calendar Users No Longer See Default Entries for Events Like Pride, Black History Month

UP NEXT

Apple Changes Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on Maps

UP NEXT

Kevin Durant Becomes 8th in NBA History to Score 30,000 Points

Need Down Payment Help? Fresno Housing Has $25K for First-Time Homebuyers

34 minutes ago

Pentagon’s New Media Rotation Program Boots NPR, NY Times, NBC News

48 minutes ago

Bredefeld Wants Less Scrutiny for Supervisors’ Discretionary Budget. Pacheco Calls It ‘Ironic.’

58 minutes ago

Senate Confirms Gabbard as Trump’s Director of National Intelligence

3 hours ago

President Trump and Putin Have Agreed to Start Negotiations to End the Ukraine War

3 hours ago

Google Calendar Users No Longer See Default Entries for Events Like Pride, Black History Month

3 hours ago

Apple Changes Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on Maps

3 hours ago

Kevin Durant Becomes 8th in NBA History to Score 30,000 Points

3 hours ago

Too Few Tents Entering Gaza Threatens the Truce. Here’s What’s Happening

3 hours ago

California’s FAIR Plan Needs $1B for Wildfire Claims, Costs Passed to Policyholders

3 hours ago

CHP K-9 Seizes 50 Pounds of Illicit Mushrooms in Fresno County

A California Highway Patrol K-9 officer seized approximately 50 pounds of illicit mushrooms valued at $80,000 during a traffic stop on Feb.6...

23 minutes ago

A CHP K-9 seized 50 pounds of illicit mushrooms worth $80,000 during a traffic stop on I-5 in Fresno County, leading to the arrest of Phillip Yoon, 35, of Hayward. (CHP)
23 minutes ago

CHP K-9 Seizes 50 Pounds of Illicit Mushrooms in Fresno County

25 minutes ago

Saint Agnes to Expand Teaching for Clovis Med School Students

30 minutes ago

Belarus Releases 3 People, Including an American and a Jailed Journalist

34 minutes ago

Need Down Payment Help? Fresno Housing Has $25K for First-Time Homebuyers

48 minutes ago

Pentagon’s New Media Rotation Program Boots NPR, NY Times, NBC News

58 minutes ago

Bredefeld Wants Less Scrutiny for Supervisors’ Discretionary Budget. Pacheco Calls It ‘Ironic.’

Tulsi Gabbard, President Donald Trump's choice to be the Director of National Intelligence, arrives to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee for her confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP/John McDonnell)
3 hours ago

Senate Confirms Gabbard as Trump’s Director of National Intelligence

President Donald Trump arrives to greet Marc Fogel at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Alex Brandon)
3 hours ago

President Trump and Putin Have Agreed to Start Negotiations to End the Ukraine War

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend