Apecialist Christopher Culhane works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

NEW YORK - The stock market is closing at a record high after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank would continue to support the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 169 points, or 1.1 percent, to close at 15,461 Thursday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 22 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,675.

Both indexes surpassed the record closes they set in May.

The tech-dominated Nasdaq composite rose 57 points, or 1.6 percent, to 3,578.

Investors also bought bonds after being reassured that the Fed was not in a hurry to pull back on its huge bond-buying program.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.57 percent from 2.63 percent late Wednesday. As recently as early May, it was 1.63 percent.