This record-breaking market just keeps going higher and higher. Here’s why

The stock market keeps scaling new heights as investors focus on the good and ignore the bad, no matter how bad the bad parts might look sometimes.

Prospects for a slowing economy, geopolitical unrest and turmoil in Washington aren’t scaring market participants largely because none of those threats have turned into much in reality.

What instead has taken center stage is an economy performing remarkably well, inflation pulling back and a run of positive developments in Big Tech that has outweighed any what-ifs that the market has had to endure.

“If investors are looking for a reason to be negative, it’s hard to find,” said Mitchell Goldberg, president of ClientFirst Strategy, a financial advisory firm. “The 24-hour news cycle is so intense. But the fact is, a lot of it is noise and a lot of it has nothing to do with economics and personal finance. There’s so much information overload now. But to break it down and put perspective on things, what’s not to like about the stats that are coming up?”

As it has digested the various headwinds and tail winds, the market is pushing toward a record closing high. In fact, the S&P 500 breached its intraday peak Friday, continuing the momentum built through the end of 2023.

Large technology players have led the charge. Juniper Networks, Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices are the three biggest sector gainers this year on the S&P 500, buoyed in part by enthusiasm over generative artificial intelligence technology.

At the same time, economic data outside of manufacturing and housing has been mostly solid, particularly where it concerns the seemingly unbreakable labor market. With expectations running high that elevated interest rates pose a threat to continued hiring growth, initial jobless claims last week hit their lowest level since September 2022.

Along with commentary from…