Thread: S&P 500 closes above 1,500; Dow nears 14,000

S&P 500 closes above 1,500; Dow nears 14,000

Staff and wire reports4:17p.m. EST January 25, 2013

Shares in Apple dropped over 12% on Thursday, dragging down the Nasdaq

Story Highlights

• Wall Street indexes higher for fourth straight week of gains
• Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 leaps 3%
• Apple stock down more than 2%, loses spot as world's most valuable company

NEW YORK – The bull market kept its momentum Friday as the Standard & Poor's 500 index closed above 1,500 for the first time since Dec. 10, 2007, and the Dow Jones industrial average finished less than 30 points from breaking 14,000.

It was the fourth straight week that Wall Street's three major indexes finished higher, with the S&P 500 and the Dow hitting new five-year highs again.

Apple's stock price decline continued, slowing the gains of the tech-laden Nasdaq composite index. But the index still ended 0.5% higher for the day at 3,145.85. It remains well below its all-time high of 5,048.62, set in March 2000.

The Dow closed up 70.65 points, 0.5%, to 13,895.98, while the S&P 500 gained 8.14 points, 0.5%, for the day to finish at 1,502.96.

The Dow's all-time high of14,164.53, hit on Oct. 9, 2007, could be broken as early as next week as investors rush from bonds and cash into the stock market.

Apple's stock ended down 2.4% at $439.99, relinquishing in less than a year the No. 1 spot it grabbed last year from Exxon as the world's most valuable publicly traded company.

The broader Wilshire 5000 index, which tracks all stocks available for trade, closed just below a record high set Thursday, marking a nearly $10 trillion stock value gain in the bull market, as Wall Street's powerful rally continues.

Investors were in a buying mood as the fourth-quarter earnings results continued to pour out from corporate America. And there was upbeat data on new-home sales, bolstering the view that despite budget woes in Washington, the economy is soldiering on. Procter & Gamble and Kimberly Clark both posted robust earnings Friday.

On Wall Street Thursday, a sharp drop in Apple stock pulled the Nasdaq down after the tech giant warned of weaker sales. Other stock market indexes posted slight gains.

Shares of Apple (AAPL) nose-dived more than 12% on Thursday. The stock has now fallen 36% from a high hit in September. Apple accounts for about 10% of the Nasdaq index.

APPLE: Apple price targets slashed after bubble bursts

Japan's benchmark stock index jumped Friday as the yen continued to retreat against the dollar and investors cheered the new government's plans to boost the economy. The Nikkei 225 closed up 2.9%. Other Asian stock markets ended mixed.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond jumped Friday to 1.95% from 1.84% a day earlier. Bond prices plunged as investors sold bonds to buy stocks.

The price of gold fell $12 to $1,658. The euro was up against the dollar at 1.346, while the dollar rose 0.6% against the yen, trading at 90.95.

In Europe, major indexes ended higher. Britain's FTSE 100 index finished up 0.3% to 6,284.45. In France, the CAC 40 benchmark finsihed up 0.7% to 3,778.16, and Germany's DAX 30 index ended 1.4% higher at 7,857.97.

In commodities, benchmark oil for March delivery was up 0.1% to $96.02 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 72 cents to finish at $95.95 a barrel on the Nymex on Thursday.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2013/01/25/stocks-friday-1-25/1863691/