Nasdaq sets record high

U.S. stocks traded near highs on Thursday as investors eyed a heavy day of earnings and some economic data.

The S&P 500 attempted to hold above its record close of 2,117.39 but below its record intra-day high of 2,119.59. The Nasdaq traded above its record close of 5,048.62 from March 2000 as all the major indices turned higher around noon.

The Dow Jones industrial average was within 1 percent of its record close.

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I'm checking (at 8:07 HST).  Today's intra-day high for the Nasdaq is 5062.45.  The all-time intra-day high was 5132.52 set on March 10, 2000.  So not really close to that yet.

So the Nasdaq might indeed set a record high today, but hasn't hit the all-time high yet.

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It took more than 5,500 days and a helluva lot of help from Apple (AAPL, Tech30), but the Nasdaq is finally celebrating a new all-time closing high. The index that's home to tech stars like Facebook (FB, Tech30), Google (GOOGL, Tech30) and Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) climbed to 5,056 on Thursday. That's the highest level the Nasdaq has ever closed at, whipping out the previous record set on March 10, 2000 of 5,048.62.

Today marks a major milestone in the investing world, in part because it means the Nasdaq has finally gotten over the Dot-com bubble that popped in early 2000.

"It's an enormous deal psychologically," said Peter Kenny, chief market strategist at the Clearpool Group.
It's also getting closer to its intraday record level of 5,132.52 that was also set on March 10, 2000.

This is especially momentous because the Dow and S&P 500 hit record territory years ago, but it took the Nasdaq a long time to climb back from the bursting of the bubble.

Related: Why this tech party isn't like 1999

Another bubble in tech? The Nasdaq record may also serve as a spooky reminder for many investors about what can go wrong in the market. Fifteen years ago people were going crazy over money-losing tech stocks like Pets.com (and bad Ricky Martin songs) that eventually imploded, hurting the retirement accounts of millions of Americans.