(Reuters) - The S&P 500 confirmed on Friday that it has been in a bull market since October 2022, as it notched a record high close for the first time in two years.
The session's gains were fueled by chipmakers surging on AI optimism and investor bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in 2024.
The benchmark's new record high close confirms that the S&P 500 ended a bear market when it closed on Oct. 12, 2022, and that it has been in a bull market since then, according to one measure.
The S&P 500 had lost nearly 25% in a sell off between its last record high on Jan. 3 2022 and its low in October 2022.
On Friday, S&P 500 climbed 1.2% on the day to end at 4,839.81 points, exceeding its previous record close of 4796.56 on Jan. 3, 2022.
The S&P 500's most recent downswing and recovery was in line with the median time of nearly two years between record highs since the 1920s, according to LSEG.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which also hit a record closing high on Friday, had already confirmed on Dec 13, 2023 that it had been in a bull market since Sept. 30, 2022.
Meanwhile, while the Nasdaq composite recovered 43% in 2023, it would need to rise another 4.8% to return to its record high close of 16,057.4437, reached on Nov. 19, 2021.