Stocks close higher, led by gains in high-dividend stocks
Traders work on the floor at the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street on Sept. 16, 2016. Credit: EPA / Justin Lane
Stocks are closing higher on Wall Street, led by gains in high-dividend stocks a day after the Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rates low.
The newly created real estate sector did the best in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index Thursday. That group was spun off last week from the financials category, which includes banks and insurance companies.
With their high dividends, real estate stocks did well as investors seeking income looked beyond bonds, whose yields have been falling.
Phone companies, another group of high dividend payers, also climbed. AT&T rose 1.3 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 98 points, or 0.5 percent, to 18,392.
The S&P 500 rose 14 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,177. The Nasdaq composite climbed 44 points, or 0.8 percent, to 5,339.
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