The Dow and the Nasdaq each achieved milestones recently, so it was time for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index to follow suit.
The index of 500 large U.S. companies closed above 1,400 Thursday for the first time since June 2008, finishing up 8.32 points, or 0.6%, at 1,402.60.
The index is up 11.5% this year, but still down 10.4% from its record close in October 2007.
It’s another sign of investor optimism amid improving economic data. Stock prices were driven up by an encouraging report on first-time jobless claims.
For one of the few times this year, the S&P didn’t get a boost from one of its biggest components,Apple Inc.
Barely a month after piercing $500, the technology colossus briefly surpassed $600 early in the session. But the price fell back and the shares closed down 0.7%.
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