The ASX200 has closed above 7,000 for the first time in nearly 14 months, as markets surge around the world.

The benchmark Australian index finished Wednesday up 46.2 points, or 0.66 per cent, to 7,023.1, the first time since February 24, 2020, it has closed above 7,000.

The index has gained 59.5 per cent since its March 23, 2020, intraday nadir of 4402.5 — and is just 2.5 per cent from its all-time peak of 7,197.2, set February 20, 2020.

“These are great times for Australian investors,” said CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy, but he added the story was bigger than that.

In the United States, the S&P500 index is up 10.3 per cent this year and closed Tuesday at a fresh all-time high, as did the NASDAQ Composite.

“And it’s not just share investors — asset prices are generally very buoyant, with the exception of bonds,” McCarthy said, noting how Bitcoin also hit an all-time high on Wednesday.

The market shrugged off the pause of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, as well as higher-than-expected US inflation data for March.

“The only way is up at the moment,” McCarthy said.

It seems like markets are euphoric, the final stage of any bull market, he said.

But with economies reopening, economic growth strong, interest rates low and government stimulus measures continuing, “it’s hard to see anything tripping us up at the moment,” he added.