Turnaround on Wall Street as S&P index hits new high

Shares in S&P 500 are up 50% on Covid trough in late March

Wall Street's rapid recovery from its Covid-19 slump has entered a new phase after a leading yardstick of American shares briefly hit a record high.

In early trading in New York the S&P 500, which measures the stock market valuation of the 500 leading US quoted companies, rose to 3,394.82, exceeding its previous high by a single point.