The Dow Jones Industrial Average topped the 40,000-point mark for the first time in history, as Wall Street investors turned bullish on the prospect of a Fed interest rate cut and strong earnings reports from blue-chip companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has surpassed Wednesday’s all-time high of $39,935.04 and is up nearly 40% since October 2022.
As of 11:03 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.31% at $40,033.02.
“Breaking through the 40,000 barrier is a big deal for bulls because round numbers have special meaning in people’s hearts and minds,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance, said in a note. It’s a big psychological boost.”
“We are in a bull market, with people displaying irrational exuberance (meme stocks), ignoring the bad news (slowing retail sales) and focusing on the good news (slightly slowing inflation). .”
The U.S. stock market has been up since the start of the year as investors bet on AI-driven gains, strong earnings and expectations that central banks will ease monetary policy this year.
On this day, all three major US indexes hit new intraday highs.
Of the 30 Dow stocks, American Express and retail giant Amazon have had the biggest gains so far this year, rising 29% and 22%, respectively.
Chipmaker Intel, which has lagged behind other companies in the fast-growing AI components market, has fallen 37% since the beginning of the year, making it the Dow’s worst performer in 2024.
Aircraft maker Boeing trailed Intel with a 30% year-to-date loss after the Jan. 5 explosion of an aerial panel on its MAX 9 jet reignited safety concerns.
For the Dow, the path from the 30,000 point mark to 40,000 points took just over three years, a faster rise than the previous 10,000 point climb, which took less than four years.
It took nearly 20 years to go from the 10,000 level to 20,000. This index dates back to 1896 and reached 10,000 for the first time in March 1999.
Wall Street has been rising since early this week after new data showed inflation slowed in April after a higher-than-expected start to the year, and the Federal Reserve finally announced that There are growing expectations that the central bank will start lowering interest rates in the fall.
The consumer price index, which measures the cost of goods and services, rose 3.4% in April from a year earlier, slowing from a 3.5% rise the previous month and in line with economists’ forecasts, according to FactSet.
Inflation remained well above the Fed’s 2% target. But other data on Wednesday showing retail sales were unexpectedly flat last month further fueled hopes that the central bank would begin an easing cycle in September.
with post wire
