Stock Gauge: Afternoon Trade and Wall Street

stock gauge: It remains to be seen if the benchmark can close at that level, but the sojourn above that mark may hold some importance, according to Market Watch. The stock gauge first closed at 2,000 on Aug. 26, 2014, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That is the time it has taken for the S&P 500 stock index to travel from its previous thousand-point plateau to an intraday milestone of 3,000 for the first time in its history. Although it may be just another number for some on Wall Street, for others the move for the broad-market benchmark reflects a round-number level that investors consider bullish for market sentiment. The S&P 500's SPX, 0.23% intraday high was 3,002.89 on Wednesday, but the index has pulled back in afternoon trade after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell kicked off his first of two days of semiannual congressional testimony that many have read as signaling a rate cut at the end of the month, which would presumably support further gains for stocks because lower rates translate to a lower cost of capital for corporations and individuals. Momentum could continue to push markets higher in the next few days now that the Fed's stance is more clear, wrote Adrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at investment platform Willis Owen, in a Wednesday note. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.