S&P 500 Reaches Record High

Last record set in 2007

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index's grind to a new record high marks a key milestone after a long slog back from financial-crisis lows.

It comes as investors appear to be warming up to stocks for the first time in many years, as good news in their brokerage accounts—and meager yields on bonds—begin to outweigh memories of two brutal bear markets within the span of a decade.

The push into record territory came Thursday morning, as the S&P 500 broke past its previous record close of 1565.15 on Oct. 9, 2007. After hitting that peak more than five years ago, the benchmark shed more than half its value during the financial crisis, sinking to 676.53 on March 9, 2009.