S&P 500 on brink of all-time high

The S&P 500 is on the verge of passing its all-time closing high after rising as much as 0.5% in early trading.

Boosted by news of a bailout deal for Cyprus, the index rose to within a point of the all-time closing high of 1565.15, reached in October 2007, before dropping back into the red. With the Dow Jones Industrial Average having hit a record of its own earlier this month, and now trading well past the 14,164 mark set in late 2007, the S&P is now a whisker away from its own intra-day high. The index, seen as a more reliable measure of the US equity market, has risen over 9% year-to-date as eurozone fears recede and investors grow more optimistic over the strength of the US economic recover...