U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Dow industrials toppling records, as investors considered mixed economic reports on jobs and the housing market and continued to relish the Federal Reserve's renewed vow to keep benchmark rates low.
"We've got low inflation, improving earnings and a central bank that appears to be a constructive force; what's not to like in this picture," said Jim Russell, senior equity strategist for US Bank Wealth Management. "It all adds up to an environmental overlay that is extremely risk-asset friendly, Russell added.
Economic reports Thursday had the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits dropping to a two-month low and separately, housing starts declined in August. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's index of factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region decelerated in September, but its employment component rose to its highest level since the middle of 2011.
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