Dow, S&P 500 hit record highs

The Dow and the S&P 500 on Thursday bolted to new records after the European Central Bank launched aggressive measures to stimulate fragile eurozone growth and avert deflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 98.58 points (0.59 per cent) to 16,836.11 while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 12.58 (0.65 per cent) to 1,940.46. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index posted strong gains, leaping 44.58 (1.05 per cent) to 4,296.23. Leading banks had a good day, including Dow member JPMorgan Chase (+1.7 per cent), Wells Fargo (+1.2 per cent) and Citigroup (+1.6 per cent). General Motors fell 0.7 per cent after chief executive Mary Barra announced the company fired 15 employees over the deadly ignition scandal and uncovered a pattern of ‘incompetence and neglect’ behind the debacle. US telecom giant Sprint is nearing a deal valued at about $32 billion to acquire rival T-Mobile, according to the Wall Street Journal and others. Sprint fell 4.0 percent, while T-Mobile dropped 2.3 percent. Amazon jumped 5.5 percent on anticipation of a June 18 mystery event with founder Jeff Bezos. Topeka Capital Markets said the buzz is that Amazon will launch a smartphone, which could boost subscriptions to its 'Prime' service. Videogame developer Zynga sank 9.2 percent on concerns about a conference presentation from chief Don Mattrick. Mattrick 'seemed slightly less upbeat' than normal about the company's prospects, said a note from Sterne Agee. Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.58 percent from 2.61 percent Wednesday, while the 30-year dropped to 3.43 percent from 3.45 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely, according to AFP.