U.S. stocks sweep to records on hope for fiscal relief

U.S. stock indexes swept to new records Friday helped by hopes for another financial aid package from Congress to combat the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, with the November jobs report suggesting employment growth is slowing sharply.

All four benchmark stock indexes — the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq Composite Index and the Russell 2000 — closed at records.

The last time all four indexes closed at a record on the same day was Jan. 22, 2018, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.83 percent rose 248.74 points or 0.8 percent to close at 30,218.26, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.88 percent gained 32.40 points, or 0.9 percent, to end at 3,699.12.

The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.70 percent rose 87.05 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,464.23 The small-cap Russell 2000 RUT, +2.37 percent closed at 1,892.45, up 43.75 points or 2.4 percent.