Stocks Pop to New Highs. Wall Street Is Betting Big on Earnings Season.

The stock market settled into a groove in early afternoon trading after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit their highest levels on record.

The S&P 500 was up 0.6% and hit a high of 6336.08. The Nasdaq Composite, up 0.7%, pulled back slightly after posting a record of its own at 21,077.37. Both indexes were on track to mark record closes. For the Nasdaq, it would be the tech-heavy index’s sixth closing high in as many trading days.

The Dow was keeping up this afternoon with a gain of 235 points, or 0.5%, but the index is still 1% off its Dec. 4 closing high of 45,014.04.