Monday -- March 2, 2015 -- NASDAQ Only 18 Points From Hitting 5,000 -- Again

Updates

Later, 9:33 a.m. CT: CNBC is reporting --

U.S. stocks traded higher on Monday as investors digested Chinese economic news and U.S. manufacturing data.

The Nasdaq briefly touched 5,000, a level not reached since March 2000 during the tech bubble.

"The news out of China cutting its benchmark interest rate and better-than-expected inflation news out of the euro zone are providing a lift to the U S market," Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital, said in a note.

Original Post

Only 18 points from hitting 5,000 again, last seen many years ago. Inflation-adjusted, the NASCAQ would have to hit 7,000 to reach it's "old" high.

Elsewhere, Market Watch is reporting:

If you’re a retail investor with a keen interest in tainted laminated flooring from China, today should be plenty interesting (more on that below). If not, Monday will probably start off slowly. Just like it ended on Friday. Investors could use this bit of quiet to reflect on what was a sneaky February rally.

Fireworks were really at a minimum, but the climb was freakishly steady. In fact, by the time the closing bell rang, February ended up being the best month for the U.S. market since October 2011. Considering some of the big months we’ve had, that’s saying something. So far this year, global equities are up more than 5%, and the U.S. is actually lagging the eurozone’s near-15% push.

See disclaimer. This is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, or relationship decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here.

US manufacturing growth slows to 13-month low. Do you really think Janet Yellen will start raising rates with this data?