Stocks rose to all-time highs on Thursday as Congress confirmed the election of Joe Biden as president and traders looked past the unrest in Washington.
The Dow Jones Industrials continued its rapid rise, taking on 221.73 points, to 31,041.13.
The S&P 500 hiked 55.65 points, or 1.5%, to 3,803.79, closing at more than 3,800 for the first time.
The NASDAQ popped 326.69 points, or 2.6%, to 13,067.48, breaking above 13,000 for the first time, as shares of Microsoft and Alphabet both gained more than 2%, and Apple rose 3.4%.
Walgreens Boots Alliance rose 5.2% to lead the Dow higher on the back of stronger-than-expected quarterly results. Shares of JPMorgan Chase advanced 3.3% after the banking giant was upgraded to buy from neutral by an analyst at Bank of America. The tech and consumer discretionary sectors rose 2.7% and 1.8%, respectively, to lift the S&P 500.
On Wednesday, pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol just as lawmakers started the procedural process of counting the Electoral College votes and formally declaring Biden the winner. Still, the Dow and the S&P 500 closed higher on Wednesday as traders looked beyond the event amid increasing prospects for more fiscal stimulus.
Late Wednesday evening, the Capitol building was secured and Congress reconvened to continue the process to confirm Biden’s win. That affirmation came early Thursday morning with the House of Representatives and the Senate rejecting efforts to object to the acceptance of the Electoral College votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
On the data front, initial jobless claims came in at 787,000 for the week ending Dec. 31, the U.S. Labor Department said. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a print of 815,000.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury collapsed, propelling yields to 1.08% from Wednesday’s 1.03%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 34 cents to $50.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $6.30 to $1,914.90 U.S. an ounce.