? Brendan Mcdermid / Reuters / REUTERS
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
By msnbc.com news services
Stocks rose Thursday, with the S&P 500 index, a broad gauge of the market, topping the 1,400-mark for the first time since the financial crisis on a strong run of economic data.
Though 1,400 on the S&P, which marks the highest level for the index since June 2008, does not have much technical importance, it is viewed as a bullish psychological marker.
The Dow Jones industrial average saw its first seven-day run of gains since July 2010, CNBC reported at the close of trading.
Trading was volatile at the start of "quadruple witching," the dates of expiration and settlement of four types of equity futures and options contracts.
The S&P 500 has risen more than 11 percent so far this year without a major pullback, and while some have called for a consolidation, others see the momentum persisting.
"We've had such a strong run that a lot of people are concerned we're up too much, but data has been so positive that I think we'll continue to grind higher," said Hank Herrmann, chief executive of Waddell & Reed Financial Inc in Overland Park, Kansas.
Herrmann, who helps oversee $90 billion in assets, forecast further gains of as much as 8 percent in the S&P until the U.S. presidential election in November.
On Thursday, U.S. Labor Department data showed new claims for unemployment benefits fell back to a four-year low last week, and producer prices, excluding food and energy, were contained.
Manufacturing data in New York and the U.S. mid-Atlantic region also improved, according to regional Federal Reserve surveys.
The S&P 500 snapped a five-day winning streak on Wednesday as investors found little reason to extend a rally that took the benchmark index to four-year highs. But the index is up over 2 percent this week, its best since early February.
Shares of Apple Inc pulled back, ending a six-day streak of gains, though it hit a new all-time high above $600 in early trading. Some analysts have predicted the stock will move to $700 within 12 months.
Helping transport stocks but hurting energy companies was Britain's decision to cooperate with the United States in a bilateral agreement to release strategic oil stocks in an effort to prevent high fuel prices derailing economic growth in a U.S. election year, according to two British sources.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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