NEW YORK: The S&P 500 surpassed record highs on Tuesday last seen before the onset of the coronavirus crisis in February, riding on gains in shares of Amazon.com in a technology-driven rally.

Trillions of dollars in fiscal and monetary stimulus have flushed Wall Street with cash, pushing yield-seeking investors into equities, with technology-related stocks being viewed as the most reliable to ride out the crisis.

The S&P 500 rose as much as 0.4% to 3,395.06 points during the session. If the benchmark closes above 3,386.15 it would confirm that the index has been in a new bull market since its pandemic low on March 23.

At 12:57 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 17.04 points, or 0.06%, at 27,827.87, and the S&P 500 was up 8.68 points, or 0.26%, at 3,390.67. The Nasdaq Composite was up 61.71 points, or 0.55%, at 11,191.44, hitting a record high for a second straight session.

Home Depot Inc reported its biggest rise in quarterly same-store sales in at least two decades, however, its shares fell about 1% after analysts cautioned that its sales might have hit their peak.

Walmart Inc traded marginally higher after posting its biggest-ever growth in online sales.