Stocks hit new highs after Bernanke reassures investors

The stock market is back at new highs thanks to comforting words from Federal Reserve chief Ben S. Bernanke.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index both surged into new high ground Thursday as investors celebrated the clearest sign yet that the Fed will maintain its easy-money policies.

The Dow vaulted 169.26 points, or 1.1%, to 15,460.92, capping an impressive comeback over the last two weeks after a nearly 5% dip the previous four weeks.

The S&P 500 rose 22.41 points, or 1.4%, to 1,675.03. Smaller stocks had been at new highs since last week.

The rally followed comments a day earlier from Bernanke, who predicted “highly accommodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future.”

That put to rest fears that the Fed would soon taper off its bond-buying efforts. Investors had feared that an early end to the Fed program would blunt economic growth, which has picked up steam this year but remains far from vibrant.

“The Federal Reserve is the great enabler,” said Patrick J. O’Hare, chief market analyst at Briefing.com. “And Mr. Bernanke gave it another hit of positive euphoria with a clearer message that the Fed’s in it for the long haul and investors need not fear a rise in rates at the Fed’s hand.”

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Follow Walter Hamilton on Twitter @LATwalter