S&P 500 closes at record high as stocks rally in late trade

U.S. stocks climbed on Friday as stocks benefiting from a successful economic reopening outperformed again.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 453.40 points higher, or 1.4%, to 33,072.88. The S&P 500 rose 1.7% to 3,974.54, hitting a record closing high. The Nasdaq Composite ended the session 1.2% higher at 13,138.72.

It was broad-based late buying and all three major benchmarks rallied to their session highs into the close.

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a new goal of having 200 million Covid vaccination shots being distributed within his first 100 days in office. As of Friday, 100 million coronavirus vaccinations had been given since Biden was inaugurated.

Financial stocks rose after the Federal Reserve announced that banks could resume buybacks and raise dividends starting at the end of June. The central bank originally said it would lift pandemic era restrictions in the first quarter, but even the delayed move gives investors more clarity.

Meanwhile, consumer sentiment in the U.S. continued to rise amid the vaccine rollout. A University of Michigan survey released Friday showed the final reading of the index of consumer sentiment was 84.9 in March, up from 76.8 in February.

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