Stocks soared for a second day Thursday and the Dow had its best day in more than three years as good feelings about the Fed’s Wednesday announcement that rate hikes aren’t on the immediate horizon continued to boost the market. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 421.28 points, or 2.4%, to close at 17,778.15, its best one-day point gain since Nov. 30, 2011. The two-day rally saw the Dow gain 709 points, its best two-day point gain since Nov. 2008.
“The mini correction is over,” says David Kotok, chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors. “The markets are again realizing that the (bull market) basics of low interest rates, low inflation, and a gradual economic recovery are solidly in place.” The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 48.34 points, or 2.4%, to 2061.23 and has added 88 points, or 4.5%, in two days. That is the broad-based index’s best two-day percent performance in more than three years.
Gains were led by tech stocks, the best-performing sector in the S&P. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 104.08 points, or 2.2%, to 4748.40. The stock market’s two-day paper gain was approximately $1.1 trillion, according to Wilshire Associates.
“Fed-induced optimism sent the Dow to its best day of the year yesterday, and the blue-chip barometer is set to pick up right where it left off,” Karee Venema of Schaeffer’s Investment Research noted early in the day.