Stocks Lifted By New S&P 500 Record Highs; Yen Retreats – Investing.com

Stocks Lifted By New S&P 500 Record Highs; Yen Retreats – Investing.com

Shares on Wall Street continued to rally on Monday to notch up a fourth straight day of gains, pushing the benchmark S&P 500 index to a new all-time high of 4,791.19. Having started the year around the 3,700 level, the S&P 500’s gains have exceeded even the most bullish analyst forecasts, highlighting how powerful the Fed’s emergency stimulus has been.

Even now, as the Fed has begun to taper its asset purchases and flag an earlier-than-expected liftoff, financial conditions remain extremely accommodative, with long-term borrowing costs set to end the year well off their peaks.

Furthermore, while the Omicron variant is causing havoc in many parts of the world – daily cases worldwide hit a new record yesterday – and there’s a substantial risk that health services in America, Europe and the UK could yet get inundated by the surge in new infections, investors are hopeful that this won’t lead to draconian restrictions.