Stock market today: S&P 500’s latest record closes out best first quarter since 2019

Stocks rallied into the close to end the last trading day of the month, capping a fruitful first quarter of 2024 with a fresh record high for the S&P 500. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose more than 0.1% on Thursday. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped about 0.1% on the day. Zooming out, though, all three major averages have now risen for five straight months. With markets closed for the Good Friday holiday, Thursday marks the final trading session of the quarter. It’s been a banner one for Wall Street: The S&P 500’s more than 10% return to start the year marks its best first quarter performance since 2019. What largely started as a megacap-driven rally has shown signs of broadening. Wall Street firms almost can’t keep pace with the S&P’s surge and have continued to move up their year-end price targets. And history suggests the momentum could continue. A final reading on fourth quarter GDP released on Thursday morning showed the US economy grew at a rate of 3.4% versus a prior estimate of 3.2%. On the employment front, initial jobless claims for last week came in at 210,000, versus estimates for 212,000. Though Wall Street is closed Friday, investors will be watching for the main data event of the week: the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, which contains the Federal Reserve’s preferred “core” PCE inflation measure.