US stocks pushed higher for a second week running as investor relief at higher oil prices and greater confidence over Greek debt talks and Ukraine peace prospects lifted the market.
The broad-based S&P 500 finished the week with a flourish, closing at its first record for this year at 2,096.99 after adding 41.52 points (2.02 percent).
The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed its own threshold, breaching 18,000 for the first time this year to end at 18,019.35, up 195.06 (1.09 percent).
The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite Index gained 149.44 (3.15 percent) to 4,893.84.
“While investors recognize the market may be expensive, I don’t think too many people are calling for the next crisis around the corner,” BMO Private Bank chief investment officer Jack Ablin said.
The gains came despite some disappointing US data, especially a retail sales report for last month that showed a drop of 0.8 percent compared with the prior month. That dulled some of the luster from last week’s surprisingly robust US jobs report.
However, investors largely shrugged off the data, focusing instead on the pickup in the oil market, with US prices finishing above US$50 per barrel for the second week in a row.
Investors took an optimistic view of a ceasefire roadmap unveiled on Thursday between Kiev and pro-Russian rebels. Ukraine officials continued to speak cautiously of the deal as fighting raged on Friday.
Investors also saw reason to be optimistic about ongoing talks between Greece and the eurozone over Athens’ demand for a new bailout deal, taking cues from European markets, which rose on Friday in part due to expectations that an agreement would be reached to avoid a Greek sovereign debt default.
Ablin said investors still do not know what to expect from Greece, but have become less rattled by a potential Greek departure from the currency bloc.
“Investors increasingly believe that if Greece were to leave the eurozone, it wouldn’t be the end of the world,” he said. “In fact, it could catalyze growth.”
Among corporate news stories, Apple Inc stole more headlines when it became the first public company to reach a market value of US$700 billion. The jump followed an upbeat appraisal of the company’s iPhone and soon-to-arrive smartwatch prospects by chief executive Tim Cook at a technology conference.
The technology giant rose 6.9 percent for the week, ending with a market capitalization of more than US$740 billion.
The week’s most dramatic merger was US online travel operator Expedia Inc’s announcement that it would buy rival Orbitz Worldwide Inc for about US$1.6 billion. The deal is the latest move to consolidate the online travel industry and comes less than a month after Expedia announced the purchase of rival Travelocity in a US$280 million deal.
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