"Since the beginning of February, we've been in a sweet spot of having a strong equity, dollar and oil market, which is a winning combination from an economic standpoint," said Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives at Schwab Center for Financial Research. "In addition, the housing market recovery has been critical and has an enormous psychological effect on consumers."



Frederick said he expects the rally to continue and the S&P 500 will likely see new highs in the near-term.

"Small pullbacks like today are buying opportunities," said Frederick. "We might see a correction after the S&P 500 touches the new high, but the rally will resume because looking out at the rest of the year, things continue to look positive."

Meanwhile, widely-followed hedge fund manager David Tepper of Appaloosa Management remains bullish on the U.S. stock market, a source familiar with his thinking told CNBC, and predicts the S&P could soar 20 percent or more through the course of 2013. Tepper became known several years ago for embracing the "Bernanke put" theory that the Fed's quantitative easing would pave the way for a bull run.

Tepper himself was reluctant to comment on the outlook, telling CNBC he is "still constructive on the market."