According to a Wall Street Journal Report,"the Dow Jones Industrial Average topped 16000 for the first time, extending a rally fueled by the combination of steady economic growth and central-bank stimulus".
"The blue-chip index rose as much as 0.4% to 16030 shortly after the open, but slipped below that benchmark in late-morning trading. Recently, it climbed 39 points, or 0.2%, to 15999. The Dow is up 22% since the start of the year and up 144% from its post-financial crisis lows.
The S&P 500 index added one point, or 0.1%, to 1799, reversing an early gain that sent the index above 1800 for the first time. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell three points, or 0.1%, to 3983.
While corporate earnings have been tepid of late, profits are still rising fast enough to support share prices, said Doug Cote, chief market strategist at ING Investment Management, which oversees $190 billion.
"Fundamentals are driving this market with help from our friends at the Fed," Mr. Cote said.
On Monday, U.S. stock investors took their cue from overseas markets. In Asia, Chinese stocks rallied after the Chinese government announced a broad outlook for economic reform.
Optimism about growth in China filtered through to European markets as well. Germany's central bank said in a monthly report that there is a good chance the momentum of Germany's economy, the engine for growth in Europe, will accelerate in the coming months.
But many investors acknowledged that stocks are rising in an atmosphere of trepidation. Monday's intraday gains weren't particularly big, and volume was light, traders said.
Market analysts are divided on the future direction of the stock indexes, some argue that profits are growing fast enough to support share prices,plus a little help from the Fed's expansive monetary policy. While others think that market participants have become rather complacent about risk.
