Stocks Rise To Highest Levels Since 2007: Acadiana Business Index

Wall Street rallies as the Dow climbs past 13,000. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 218 points to 13,178. Mark Lasseigne has your market report in today's Acadiana Business Index.

The market started the rally on retail sales data this morning, which printed in-line.

Federal Open Market Committee took no new action and offered few hints about the potential for additional monetary stimulus. Fed officials acknowledged improvements in the U.S. labor market, but cautioned that economic risks remain and inflation could rise temporarily because of the recent increase in oil and gas prices.

J.P. Morgan Chase jumped over 7%, moving to the top of the Dow, after the bank said it was hiking its quarterly dividend and it authorized a new $15 billion stock buyback program.

Apple closed at a record $568.10. Apple, with only two flagship products, has a bigger market cap than the entire Semiconductor space, and now about the same as the entire S&P Retail sector.

Light sweet crude settled at $106.71 a barrel.

Gold also closed at $1,694 an ounce.