A variety of "Goldilocks" items helped push several stocks to new highs Thursday, widely followed trader Art Cashin told CNBC.
Names like Apple, Cisco, Charles Schwab and E-Trade all hit 52-week highs Thursday, while the Dow Jones industrial average closed almost 200 points higher. It was the blue-chip index's sixth straight day of gains.
"What we are getting here is a series of breakouts," said Cashin, director of floor operations at the New York Stock Exchange for UBS.
"They are being helped by a variety of different Goldilocks items. The geopolitical situation in Korea looks better. The markets were cheered by the release of the prisoners," he said on "Closing Bell."
President Donald Trump said Thursday that his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will take place June 12 in Singapore. It would be the first meeting ever for a sitting U.S. president and the head of North Korea.
Trump's announcement came hours after he welcomed home three Americans who had been imprisoned by North Korea.
"We still have a problem in the Middle East but we're narrowing down to just a few things," Cashin said, referring to the fallout over Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
"The only other thing that has even a mild cloud over the market is there's still some concerns about trade wars and tariffs," he added.
The final outcome of Trump's steel and aluminum tariff exemptions is still unknown. The Trump administration has extended the deadline for steel and aluminum tariff exemptions for U.S. allies.
However, the White House has said if these alternatives aren't finalized shortly, it leaves open the possibility of reimposing tariffs.
— CNBC's Mike Calia and Everett Rosenfeld contributed to this report.