GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks rally, yields drop, S&P at record

Wall Street stocks ended firmer on Thursday, with the S&P 500 hitting a record closing high, as economic data appeared to support the Federal Reserve's assertion that the current wave of heightened inflation will be temporary.

NEW YORK: Global stock markets rallied to new highs and bond yields slid on Thursday after a jump in U.S. inflation was viewed as insufficient to alter the Federal Reserve's easy monetary policy stance that rising consumer prices will be transitory.

MSCI's global benchmark, the S&P 500 and a pan-European stock index surged after the U.S. Labor Department said the consumer price index in the 12 months ended in May accelerated 5.0%, the biggest year-on-year increase since August 2008.