S&P 500, Nasdaq close at record highs making up lost ground from 2018 nosedive

The stock market has completed its comeback.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed at record highs on Tuesday, The Associated Press reports. The former rose 0.9 percent, with the new peak — which surpassed a mark set in September 2018 — coming just months after the markets rapidly plunged on Christmas Eve last year and making up all the lost ground. The Nasdaq climbed 1.3 percent to shatter its previous high set in August 2018. Both markets were coming off long stretches without a record, after bottoming out down nearly 20% at the end of the year.

Stocks have reportedly flourished this year thanks to what The Wall Street Journal writes is a more "accommodative" Federal Reserve. The central bank said earlier this year it was unlikely to raise interest rates, which encouraged investors to take greater risks. The rise was also spurred by a more general confidence in the U.S. economy, per AP.

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Overall, on the year, the S&P is up 17 percent, its best start to the year since 1987, per the Journal, while the Nasdaq is up 22 percent, a number it hasn't seen since 1991.