Stocks overcame a midday stumble and ended broadly higher on Wall Street, pushing the S&P 500 to another record high.
Communications companies powered a big part of the gain, led by a 7.3% leap in Facebook after the company reported big growth in digital ad revenue.
Investors got several encouraging reports indicating that the economy is gaining momentum as it emerges from a recession brought on by the pandemic. The government reported that the economy grew last quarter at a vigorous 6.4% annual rate, and applications for unemployment aid fell again last week.
On Thursday:
The S&P 500 rose 28.29 points, or 0.7%, to 4,211.47.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 239.98 points, or 0.7%, to 34,060.36.
The Nasdaq rose 31.52 points, or 0.2%, to 14,082.55.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 8.70 points, or 0.4% to 2,295.46.
For the week:
The S&P 500 is up 31.30 points, or 0.7%.
The Dow is up 16.87 points, or less than 0.1%.
The Nasdaq is up 65.74 points, or 0.5%.
The Russell 2000 is up 23.60 points, or 1%.
For the year:
The S&P 500 is up 455.40 points, or 12.1%.
The Dow is up 3,453.88 points, or 11.3%.
The Nasdaq is up 1,194.26 points, or 9.3%.
The Russell 2000 is up 320.60 points, or 16.2%.
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