S&P 500 hovers near record highs on continued economic optimism and Fed support

• US stocks rose with the S&P 500 hovering near record highs Friday as investors remain optimistic about the US economy.
• The benchmark index on Thursday broke both its intraday and closing records.
• The 10-year Treasury yield was around 1.455% Friday, in a sign that the market believes strong inflation will prove transitory

US stocks rose on Friday, with the S&P 500 hovering near record highs as investors continue to remain optimistic about the US economy amid support from the Federal Reserve.

The benchmark index on Thursday broke both its intraday record and closing record, to finish the session at 4,239.18.

Tom Lee, managing partner and the head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, said the breakout to new highs was presaged by the upside breakout last week.

"Our base case of a surge in S&P 500 to 4,400 before mid-year 2021 remains intact," Lee said in a note.

While Thursday's data showed that US inflation surged more than expected in May, weekly jobless claims fell to a pandemic-era low.

The 10-year Treasury yield was trading around 1.455%, two basis points above its March low, in a sign that the market believes strong inflation will prove transitory, as the Federal Reserve has stated.

Here's where US indexes stood at 9:30 a.m. open on Friday:

• S&P 500: 4,244.84, up 0.13%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 34,586.64, up 0.35% (120.40)
• Nasdaq Composite: 14,034.64, up 0.09%

Bitcoin was trading at $37,421. The world's most popular cryptocurrency climbed to a one-week high Thursday, hitting $38,000 as the cryptocurrency shrugged off renewed calls for tighter regulation.

Gold slipped by 0.57% to 1,887.18 per ounce. The precious metal lost some ground as the US dollar rose.

Oil prices fell. West Texas Intermediate crude edged lower by 0.07% to $70.24 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, was down 0.07%, at $72.47 per barrel.

The International Energy Agency said on Friday that global oil demand is set to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022, but renewed COVID outbreaks and low vaccination levels in developing countries will make the recovery uneven.