NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market
broke through twomilestones Monday as a historic rally pushes stocks further into recordterritory.The
Dow Jones industrial average topped 16,000 for thefirst time and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index
pierced 1,800. Bothindexes are on track for their best year in a decade, and have soaredmore than 140
percent since hitting a Great Recession low more than fiveyears ago.Investors are pushing stocks up
sharply this year asthe U.S. economy improves, companies report record profits and theFederal Reserve
keeps up its easy-money policies."The Fed isstill pumping money into the system, which is helping
fuel the market,"said Frank Fantozzi, CEO of Planned Financial Services, a wealthmanager.
"There’s much more confidence in the market."Investorsare betting Fed policies are not likely
to change soon. Janet Yellen,the nominee to succeed Ben Bernanke as Fed chairman, indicated
incongressional testimony last week that she was prepared to keep interestrates low to stimulate the
economy.The S&P 500 index hasrisen for six weeks straight and is up 26 percent so far this year.
Themarket hasn’t risen that much in a whole year since 2003.TheS&P 500 has closed above major
round-number milestones three timesthis year: 1,500 on Jan. 25, 1,600 on May 3 and 1,700 on Aug.
1.Thequick climb has led some experts to wonder whether stocks are too highand set to tumble. Including
this year’s gains, the S&P 500 is up165 percent from the start of the current bull market in
March 2009, 56months ago.Bull markets back to the Great Depression haveaveraged 57 months, according to
S&P Capital IQ, a research firm,however the duration of bull markets has varied greatly over
time. Thebull market of the 1990s lasted 113 months, for instance.Also,it’s not clear whether stocks are
expensive relative to their earningsor just fairly priced. One measure of value, the ratio of stock
pricesto forecast earnings, is at 15 for S&P 500 companies. That isslightly below the 15-year
average of 16.2, according to FactSet, a dataprovider.At 2 p.m., the S&P 500 was up a point at
1,799. Theindex moved slightly above and below the 1,800 several times during theday. The Dow was up 48
points, or 0.3 percent, to 16,010.Fantozziof Planned Financial said investors may be buying stocks in
response tonews from the Chinese government Friday that it plans to open stateindustries to greater
competition. Many big U.S. companies have come torely on emerging markets like China to boost revenue.
About half of therevenue in the S&P 500 comes outside the U.S.In reaction tothe China news,
which was announced after Asian markets closed onFriday, China’s Shanghai Composite surged 2.9 percent
and Hong Kong’sHang Seng jumped 2.7 percent.In the U.S., Boeing rose $2.41, or1.8 percent, to $138.40.
The plane maker booked $100 billion in ordersat the opening of the Dubai Airshow. Tyson Foods jumped 51
cents, or 1.8percent, to $29.28. The food company said its net income surged 41percent in the latest
quarter on higher sales of beef and chicken. Thecompany raised its dividend 50 percent.The yield on the
10-year Treasury note fell to 2.68 percent from 2.71 percent.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All
rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.