S&P 500 inches closer to record high as coronavirus stimulus bets climb

Ultra-low interest rates, trillions of dollars in stimulus and, more recently, a better-than-feared second-quarter earnings season have allowed all three of Wall Street's main indexes to recover

The S&P 500 closed in on its February peak on Tuesday, returning to levels last seen before the onset of the coronavirus crisis that caused one of Wall Street's most dramatic crashes in history.

The benchmark index was about half a percent below the all-time high it hit on Feb. 19, when investors started dumping shares in anticipation of what proved to be the biggest slump in the US economy since the Great Depression.

Ultra-low interest rates, trillions of dollars in stimulus and, more recently, a better-than-feared second-quarter earnings season have allowed all three of Wall Street's main