Today brought a broad based rally in the stock market with the Dow and the S&P 500 hitting a new 52 week high. 91% of stocks in the S&P 500 finished higher for the day, so clearly the rally wasn’t just a few select names, rather it was a great showing from many different industries and sectors. The key news that started the rally today was the report showing retail sales up 1.4% in October from a year ago, buoyed mainly due to strengthening auto sales versus this same time a year ago. Analysts had expected retail sales to grow by 0.9%, so the 1.4% figure was definitely a welcome number.

Later in the day today Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke and his words also helped continue the stock market’s rally on the day. Bernanke reaffirmed the notion that continued economic growth through the next year is likely to continue, but it will do so at a slow pace because of headwinds. He also said that the Fed fully expects to keep rates low for a substantial period of time to try to help with the overall economic recovery. Maybe the biggest news maker for the market was Bernanke’s comment that he sees no obvious asset bubbles in the United States right now, even with the massive stock market rally of the last few months.

The stock market has climbed of late in part because of the clear signal from Bernanke and the Federal Reserve that rates will stay low for the foreseeable future, which in theory should drive economic growth. Over time the key will be the employment market and whether it is able to turn around, since Americans are unlikely to feel too confident about the economy if they are worrying about the status of their job or trying unsuccessfully to find a new job.

For now the stock market is on cloud nine, but in the near future we will need some more hard data to keep this rally going.