Wall Street sets new record highs at the close

U.S. stock indices hit fresh record highs ahead of the weekend, as oil prices rose, bolstering energy shares, while risk appetite grew after U.S. president Trump's promise of corporate tax cuts soon, which follows a spate of data today from the world's largest economy that showed import prices slowing down last month, while consumer confidence slipped according the University of Michigan survey.

The Current Economic conditions and the Consumer's expectations surveys also fell, as consumer's expectations for one-year inflation rose, while falling for five-year inflation.
 
Dow Jones closed up 0.59%, or 118.06 points to 20,172.40, while Standard and Poor's 500 gained 0.58%, or 13.20 points to 2,307.87. NASDAQ Composite advanced 0.58%, or 32.73 points to 5,715.18.
 
Gold futures due on April 15 fell 0.17% to $1,234.70 an ounce from the opening of $1,236.80, while the dollar index rose 0.06% to 100.71 from the opening of 100.65.
 
On another note, U.S. crude futures due on March 16 rose 1.60% to $53.85 a barrel from the opening of $53.00, while Brent crude futures due on April 15 advanced 1.83% to $56.65 a barrel from the opening of $55.63.