NEW YORK (AP) – Wall Street reached another milestone Monday, when the Standard & Poor’s 500 index passed its record close of 1,527.46 for the first time since March 2000.

The S&P 500, considered by market professionals the best indicator of stock performance, surpassed the record shortly after noon following a fresh spate of takeover news that sent the overall market moderately higher. The index has followed the Dow Jones industrial average in recovering from the stock slump earlier this decade.

The S&P 500 rose to 1,529.56, then edged back to 1,528.85, up 6.10, or 0.40 percent. The index was driven Monday by buying in non-technology sectors such as energy, materials, industrials, and financials, S&P data showed. It is still below its all-time trading high of 1,552.87 set on March 24, 2000, the day the index reached its record close.

The Dow, meanwhile, ventured further into record territory, rising 23.16, or 0.17 percent, to 13,579.69 after hitting an intraday high of 13,586.03.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 25.96, or 1.01 percent, to 2,584.41, after reaching a six-year high of 2,587.87.

Reassuring investors that acquisition activity will keep up its record pace this year, General Electric Co. said early Monday that it is selling its plastics division to Saudi Arabia’s largest industrial company, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. The $11.6 billion deal is part of a broader restructuring at GE, and has been widely anticipated since last week.

The announcement followed news Sunday that telecommunications company Alltel Corp. agreed to be bought for $24.8 billion, and that China’s upstart state investment company was investing $3 billion in Blackstone Group LP. Blackstone, the second-largest U.S. private equity firm, is planning an initial public offering for later this year, and has been on a buying tear recently; just last week, it snapped up credit card services provider Alliance Data Systems Corp. for $6.43 billion.

Acquisitions, driven over the past year by a large push from private equity firms, have been a primary catalyst behind the stock market’s recent surge, as it has shown that there is an abundance of cash in the world. Buyout shops have racked up more than $370 billion in global buyouts this year, and are on pace to beat last year’s record of $730 billion, according to financial data provider Dealogic.

Although there has been strength in takeover activity, as well as in recent American manufacturing snapshots and growth overseas, many market watchers are nervous that the market has been driven by momentum trading rather than individuals putting money into their stock-based mutual funds.

“People are buying the market because it’s going up,” said Brian Gendreau, investment strategist for ING Investment Management. “We’d like to see a stronger foundation for this market.”

Bonds were little changed Monday, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note at 4.81 percent, the same as late Friday. The dollar rose against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

After TPG Capital, formerly Texas Pacific Group, and GS Capital Partners, a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, said they were buying Alltel, Alltel’s stock rose $4.18, or 6.4 percent, to $69.40.

Meanwhile, General Electric rose 26 cents to $37.21 after agreeing to sell its plastics business.

In early 2000, all of the major stock market indicators reached record highs, only to be dragged down first by the end of the dot-com boom, then by recession, the 2001 terror attacks and a series of corporate scandals including the collapse of Enron Corp. It fell to a low of 776.76 in October 2002 at the depths of a three-year bear market on Wall Street.

The market recovered slowly as investors rebuilt their confidence, but it wasn’t until last October that the more widely recognized Dow Jones industrial average surpassed its own previous closing high of 11,722.98. The Dow has gone on to barrel past 13,000 as Wall Street rallies on a mixture of corporate takeover news, respectable earnings and hopes for an interest rate cut.

After 23 record closes for the Dow this year, the S&P has finally caught up.

“This is new territory, but more importantly it serves as a reminder that the three broad indices are doing well. That should be the focus,” said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co.

The Nasdaq, however, is unlikely to reclaim its record close of 5,048.62 anytime soon. The technology-dominated index was overinflated by investors eager to grab any high-tech stock.

In other corporate news Monday, home improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos. said first-quarter profit fell 12.1 percent amid a continued slump in the housing sector. Lowe’s fell $1.03, or 3.2 percent, to $31.63.

Meanwhile, drug developers Wyeth and Elan Corp. said they plan to ask for approval to move their Alzheimer’s treatment candidate bapineuzumab into late-stage studies. Wyeth rose $1.71, or 3 percent to $58.09, and Elan’s U.S. shares rose $2.17, or 13 percent, to $18.77.

Crude oil prices rose 39 cents to $65.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by nearly 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 811.7 million shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 11.34, or 1.38 percent, to 835.00.

The S&P’s milestone comes during a week featuring little economic data. The only notable reports are Thursday’s durable goods and new homes sales reports from the Commerce Department, and Friday’s existing home sales data from the National Association of Realtors.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.90 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.06 percent, Germany’s DAX index added 0.15 percent, and France’s CAC-40 fell 0.18 percent.