S&P 500 climbs to all-time high

The S&P 500 set an all-time closing record Thursday in a sign of growing confidence in the US economy. The widely-watched, broad-based index, a bellwether of US markets and the US economy, closed at 1,569.19, up 6.34 points, or 0.41 percent, pushing past the previous record of 1,565.15, set on October 9, 2007. The narrower Dow Jones Industrial Average, which burst through its October 2007 record three weeks ago, propelled to yet another new closing peak of 14,578.54, up 52.38 points (0.36 percent). The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite finished up 11.00 (0.34 percent) higher at 3,267.52. The S&P 500's run Thursday came after a revised estimate for the fourth quarter of 2012 that placed GDP growth at just 0.4 percent, lower than some analysts had expected. New jobless claims came in worse than forecast, and the Chicago purchasing managers index reading pointed to slowing growth. "The data was somewhat on the negative side," said Paul Edelstein, an economist at IHS Global Insight. But he said markets were likely reassured by news out of Cyprus, where banks reopened relatively uneventfully. But the surge in US stocks also suggests investors are distinguishing the US' prospects from those of Europe. In spite of Thursday's data, key recent indicators, such as housing and unemployment, have improved in recent weeks in the US. "We're doing well and the eurozone's not, but at least on the current path, the eurozone shouldn't matter too much for the US," Edelstein said. "There is confidence that the US has decoupled from Europe and the US financial system is likely to be immune to Europe and their current level of crisis there," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial.