U.S. stocks inched higher Thursday, putting the S&P 500 on course to log its sixth straight session of gains.
The broad index added 0.3%, a day after it closed at its 34th record of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 73 points, or 0.2%, to 34575, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2%.
Stocks have been lifted to record highs from data showing the U.S. economy is growing at a rapid clip, and the prospect of a bumper set of second-quarter earnings at the largest companies. Meantime, investors have grown less concerned that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to ward off higher inflation.
In one sign of the rebounding economy, the number of people filing for unemployment benefits fell to 364,000 last week from 415,000 a week earlier, marking a new pandemic low.
“The growth backdrop is there, stimulus is still there, earnings are phenomenal,” said Caroline Simmons, U.K. chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management. She added, though, that economic growth in the U.S. might be past its peak, which could lead defensive corners of the market to perform well in coming months.
