How major US stock indexes fared Friday, 1/19/2024

Wall Street returned to record heights and capped a punishing, two-year round trip dogged by high inflation and worries about a possible recession. The S&P 500 rallied 1.2% to surpass its prior all-time high set at the start of 2022. It had dropped as much as 25% from that record on worries about much higher interest rates. But inflation has since cooled, the economy has remained out of a recession and the expectation is now for rates to ease. Tech stocks again helped lead the market, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.7%. The Dow, which set its own record last month, rose 1.1%.