Banks lead US stock indexes higher, and dollar jumps again
NEW YORK — A surge in banks and other financial stocks that stand to benefit from higher interest rates lifted U.S. indexes Thursday. The dollar climbed to its strongest level in more than a decade against other currencies, and the price of gold sank on expectations that the Federal Reserve will follow up Wednesday’s rate increase with several more next year.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 9 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 2,263 as of 3 p.m. Eastern time. It has made up about half of its loss from the prior day, which was its worst in two months.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 75 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 19,868. Earlier in the day, it climbed within 50 points of crossing above the 20,000 threshold for the first time. The Nasdaq composite rose 21 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 5,458. Earlier in the day, it rose above its record closing level of 5,463.83.
GO GREENBACK: The ICE U.S. Dollar index, which tracks the value of the dollar against the euro, Japanese yen and four other currencies, jumped 1.2 per cent and touched its highest level since 2002.