SPX: S&P 500 Breaks Out to New All-Time High, Dow Rises to Rarefied Air of Records

Stock charts are painting never-before-seen peaks as markets cheer a resilient US economy and lowering interest rates. Inflation data looms Thursday.

• The S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average pumped to fresh record highs in the same session. The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.7% to 5,792.04 and the 30-stock Dow climbed a solid 1% to 42,512. The Nasdaq Composite approached its all-time high by advancing 0.6% on the day. Still, the focus was on the US economy and the release of the minutes from the most recent Federal Reserve meeting.
• The summary of that meeting showed officials chatting about, you guessed it, interest rates. But, more interestingly, not all of them were on the same page. While the majority of participants favored cutting rates by half a point, some were worried the jumbo 50 bps slash was a bit too aggressive and were leaning toward a more casual slash of 25 bps. “Some participants observed that they would have preferred a 25 basis point reduction,” the minutes said.
• Looking ahead, inflation data is the next big test for stocks. The consumer price index for September is expected to show prices increased by a modest 2.3% clip from last year, down from 2.5% in August. What’s more, the third-quarter earnings season is upon us and investors are keen to get a glimpse into how the US economy chugged along over the past three months. Big banks JPMorgan JPM and Wells Fargo WFC report Friday.