Stocks Jump, S&P 500 Closes at Record High

U.S. stocks jumped Thursday as the S&P 500 closed at a record high.

The S&P 500 rose 9.13 points (0.49 percent) to 1854.29, breaking its previous high of 1,848.38 set on Jan. 15.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 74.30 points (0.46 percent), while the NASDAQ added 26.87 points (0.63 percent).

The jump comes after Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen said the central bank would most likely continue tapering its bond-buying program as it assesses the impact of harsh winter weather on the economy.

The bond-buying program was designed to spur growth by lowering interest rates and encouraging spending as the economy struggled, but the Federal Reserve announced reductions to the program in December and again in January as the economy gradually improved.

“Reduced tapering would be very negative to the market. We made a change in December to good news is good news,” Randy Frederick, a managing director at Charles Schwab, told CNBC.