The major averages close at new highs with the S&P 500 posting its strongest first quarter in five years. The broad market benchmark was up 0.11% to settle at 5,254.35. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47 points on Thursday to finish at 39,807. The S&P 500 rose 5 points to a fresh record high of 5254. The Nasdaq Composite actually fell 20 points or 0.12%.

On the month, the S&P 500 rose by 3.1%. The Nasdaq added 1.8% in March, while the Dow climbed 2.1%. It was the fifth straight winning month for all three major averages.

For the quarter, the S&P 500 added 10.2% for its best first-quarter gain since 2019, when it rallied 13.1%. The 30-stock Dow advanced 5.6% during the first three months of the year for its strongest first-quarter performance since 2021 when it jumped 7.4%. The Nasdaq ended the quarter with a 9.1% advance.

AI stock, Nvidia was one of the darlings for the quarter. The stock soared 82.5% for the quarter and gained 14.2% in the month of March.

Interest rates have crept higher to start the year as the Fed pushes off rate cuts to the second half of the year. The 2-year Treasury yield stands at 4.63%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury is at 4.21%.

Oil prices have also slowly moved higher this year as demand improves while supply has been crimped as OPEC plus holds production steady. The price of oil stands at $83.11 while brent Crude is at $87.07.