Thursday, January 26, 2017
Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial average crossed the 20,000 mark for the first time Wednesday, the latest milestone in a record-setting drive for the stock market.
Strong earnings from Boeing and other big companies helped push the Dow past the threshold. U.S. stocks closed solidly higher, lifting the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq composite to record highs of their own.
Banks and other financial companies led the gainers, which included technology and industrials. Real estate, phone companies and other high-dividend stocks lagged the broader market as bond yields rose.
“It’s a psychological event to get through that big hurdle, that big round number,” said Jeff Kravetz, regional investment strategist at U.S. Bank’s Private Client Reserve. “It’s really symbolic of what’s going on with investor sentiment becoming much more positive, and that’s going to drive stock prices higher.”
The market has been marching steadily higher since bottoming out in March 2009 in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The rally continued after the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president last fall.
Wednesday’s rally came against a backdrop of optimism on Wall Street that executive actions and policy goals announced by the Trump administration this week on trade, manufacturing and business deregulation will be good for corporate America.
If the Dow reaching 20,000 has any impact, it will likely be a psychological one. Investors have been leery of the stock market for years, unable to stomach the prospect of losing more than 50 percent of their money for a second time if another financial crisis hits.