* S&P 500 briefly crosses 3,000 threshold
* Fed's Powell begins two-day testimony before Congress
* Technology biggest boost to indexes
* Stocks briefly extend gains after Fed minutes
* Indexes up: Dow 0.3%, S&P 500 0.5%, Nasdaq 0.8%
(Updates to close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, July 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed higher and
the S&P 500 index briefly crossed the 3,000-point mark for the
first time on Wednesday as remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman
Jerome Powell reassured investors about the potential for an
interest rate cut later this month.
The Dow also hit an intraday record while the Nasdaq closed
at an all-time high following the release of prepared remarks
for Powell's testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives
Financial Services Committee.
Powell said the central bank stands ready to "act as
appropriate" to support record U.S. economic growth.
The S&P 500 breached the 3,000-mark just after the opening,
but ended slightly below that level at 2,993.07 points. Some
investors said the breach may boost confidence in a market that
has been breaking to record highs this year.
Other market watchers, however, were less certain.
"On balance, investors live by the credo: 'Don't fight the
Fed,' and if rates are being cut - whatever the reason - they
have often stood by stocks so I'm not surprised we're making new
highs," said Rick Meckler, partner, Cherry Lane Investments, a
family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey.
"But it's a market that's come an awfully long way. And I
think you're running out of investors willing to put too much
new money in without some indication that earnings can stay
strong."
Amazon.com AMZN.O , Microsoft Corp MSFT.O and Apple Inc
AAPL.O were among the biggest boosts to the indexes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 76.71 points,
or 0.29%, to 26,860.2, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 13.44 points,
or 0.45%, to 2,993.07 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
60.80 points, or 0.75%, to 8,202.53.
In his testimony, the first installment of two days on
Capitol Hill this week, Powell pointed to "broad" global
weakness that was clouding the U.S. economic outlook amid
uncertainty about the fallout from the Trump administration's
trade dispute with China and other key economies.
Stocks briefly added to gains following minutes from the
last meeting of Fed policymakers that showed many U.S. central
bank officials thought more stimulus would be needed soon if
risks to the economy did not let up. The S&P 500 index of financial shares including banks, which
tend to benefit in a higher interest rate environment, retreated
0.5% after Powell's comments.
Investors say much of this year's gain for stocks has
stemmed from a change in outlook for the Fed to be more dovish
on interest rate policy.
"The recent rally is speculation on the Fed lowering
interest rates to continue to perpetuate this amazing recovery
we've had. In Powell's testimony today, he referenced that quite
often - that the Fed's job is to perpetuate this recovery by
achieving full employment and controlling inflation, and they've
done both," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at
Inverness Counsel in New York.
"I'd say that's what's dominated the market over the past
month or so."
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.92-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.19-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 73 new 52-week highs and two new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 99 new highs and 43 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.38 billion shares, compared
to the 6.72 billion average for the full session over the last
20 trading days.
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