• The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI jumped 303.31 points, or 1.46 percent to end at 21,115.55, while the S&P 500 .SPX rallied 1.37 percent to 2,395.96. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC climbed 1.35 percent to 5,904.03.
The Dow on Wednesday blasted through the 21,000 mark for the first time after U.S. President Donald Trump's measured tone in his first speech to Congress lifted optimism and investors viewed a looming interest rate hike as a glass half full.
The three main stock indexes surged more than 1.3 percent to close at record highs. And the U.S. stock market, which has been hitting new highs almost every day, is more expensive than it has been since 2004.
• Trump on Tuesday said he wanted to boost the U.S. economy with a "massive" tax relief and make a $1 trillion push on infrastructure, bets that have helped Wall Street scale fresh records since the election.
• A March rate hike would be sooner than many investors expected and make it more expensive to borrow money to buy stocks but it would also signal policymakers' growing confidence in economic expansion after nearly a decade of tepid growth.
• Traders have now priced in a nearly 70 percent chance of a rate hike when the Fed's policy-setting body meets on March 14-15, according to Thomson Reuters data.
• Asia markets opened notably higher Thursday, tracking gains in the U.S. where the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 21,000 on the back of President Donald Trump's speech to lawmakers.
• The Nikkei 225 jumped 1.3 percent to a 14-month high in early trade, while the yen traded at 114.09 to the dollar at 8:11 a.m. HK/SIN, weakening from levels below 112.0 reached earlier this week.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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