S&P closes above 2,000 for first time

Associated Press

It was a big round-number day for the stock market.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed a hair above 2,000 points Tuesday, 16 years after it finished above 1,000 for the first time.

The move extended the stock index’s record-shattering run this year. The latest milestone comes as investors see new signs that the economy is strengthening, a driver of stronger company earnings.

“There’s perhaps a small psychological boost when you get over such a significant price level,” said Cameron Hinds, regional chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank.

U.S. stocks, in the midst of a five-year rally, have surged in the final weeks of the summer after dipping earlier this month.