The Standard & Poor's 500 index, the benchmark of America's largest corporations, surpassed 1,700 points for the first time in early trading Thursday. The rise is being tied to a drop in weekly jobless claims, as well as assurances from central banks in the U.S. and Europe that they would continue to bolster their economies.
"The S&P 500 has reversed course after pulling within 2 points of 1,700 three times in the past seven days," Bloomberg Businessweek reports. "The benchmark index is trading at 15.3 times estimated earnings, compared with an average valuation of 13.9 times profit over the past five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg."
Here are the top 10 entities that are currently in the index:
- Exxon Mobil Corp.
- Apple Inc.
- Microsoft Corp.
- Johnson & Johnson
- General Electric Co.
- Google Inc.
- Chevron Corp.
- Procter & Gamble
- Berkshire Hathaway B
- Wells Fargo & Co.
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