Upbeat data send the S&P 500 into a record, Dow Jones reclaims 17,000

U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 touching an all-time high and the Dow Jones Industrial Average tipping over 17,000 on the back of a number of upbeat economic data.

However, trading was somewhat light as investors were awaiting insight about the future of interest rates from central bankers attending the annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

-The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.36% or 60.36 points to 17039.49

The rise back above the 17,000 level is the Dow’s highest close since July 24. The index is off around 0.6% from its all-time closing high.

-The S&P 500 index advanced 0.29% or 5.86 points to 1992.37

The four-day winning streak is the longest since June. During the session, the index hit an intraday record at 1,994.76.

-The NASDAQ Composite Index advanced 0.12% or 5.62 points to 4532.11

An August reading for the Philadelphia Fed index, a manufacturing gauge came in at 28, besting forecasts for a reading of 18, and a manufacturing gauge from Markit also jumped. Meanwhile, sales of existing homes rose 2.4% in July to 5.15 million, above expectations, and initial weekly jobless claims came in basically in line with forecasts.

The cheerful flurry of data might have been bad news for the stock market, spurring worries the Fed could pull back sooner from its stimulus efforts.

Equity investors further shrugged off the Fed minutes released Wednesday that showed some officials arguing the groundwork should be laid for raising interest rates sooner than expected.

The U.S. dollar surrendered some of its gains in late New York trading. 10-year Treasury yields were off 2 basis points for the day.