Stock Exchanges | The world's most followed stock index rose again to record highs

World the most followed stock index, the broad S&P 500 rose again to record highs in the United States on Monday.

On Friday, the S&P 500 closed at a record high of 4,839.81 points. The previous record was two years ago.

On Monday, the index surpassed Friday's reading and set a new intraday record when it reached around 4,868 points. The reason behind the rise is, among other things, the strong price development of large technology companies.

A little after nine o'clock in the evening Finnish time, the index was up by about 0.3 percent.

The Dow Jones index of large companies also rose to record numbers and on Monday was above 38,000 points for the first time. In the evening, the index had strengthened by about 0.3 percent.

The technology-focused Nasdaq index advanced by around 0.4 percent.

Share prices were also broadly rising in other parts of the world on Monday.

The Stoxx 600 index, which broadly tracks European stocks, rose 0.8 percent. The Dax index of the Frankfurt stock exchange also ended up 0.8 percent plus, and the Cac 40 index of the Paris stock exchange strengthened by 0.6 percent.

Also on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, the general index closed up 0.7 percent. At the end of the day, the majority of shares in the OMXH25 index were in the red. Cargotec, a manufacturer of cargo and load handling equipment, rose the most, gaining 2.6 percent. The shares of Wärtsilä and Metso were also up by more than two percent.

Earlier on Monday, the Nikkei 225 index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed at its highest level since February 1990. The index was driven especially by the rise in share prices of technology companies.

On the other hand, at the same time, the CSI 300 index, which tracks China's large companies, weakened by 1.6 percent. The Hang Seng index of the Hong Kong stock exchange ended as much as 2.3 percent down.

Investors' eyes are on Thursday, when the European Central Bank holds its interest rate meeting. The interest is particularly focused on whether the decision-makers will hint at the possible date of the first interest rate cut.