Wall Street headed towards a new set of record highs Friday, capping a week of rallies across all three major indexes that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average approach 27,000, the S&P 500 hit a new intraday high, and the Nasdaq gain 3.4 percent for the week.
Markets were reacting to a variety of stimuli: a report that Vice President Mike Pence noted “positive signs” on China trade, conflict in the Persian Gulf, and a signal from the Federal Reserve that it would likely cut rates as soon as July.
The Dow had chalked up a gain of more than 150 points by midday Friday, at one point reaching 26,907. If those gains hold, it would be the first record close for the blue-chip index since October 2018.
A massive explosion at a major oil refinery in Philadelphia added volatility to an already tense oil market, which saw its biggest one-day gain on Thursday after Iran shot down a U.S. military drone, deepening fears of crippled oil supplies.