Dow closes above 38,000 for 1st time, setting record high

The CME FedWatch Tool shows investors still expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates twice by the end of the year. Through much of 2022 and 2023, investors were cautious and bearish about equity markets as inflation rocketed. Then, in the last few months of 2023, investors began piling back in as hopes grew that interest rates would soon be cut and a nasty recession averted. This article is a summary of the closing milestones of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a United States stock market index. Since first closing at 62.76 on February 16, 1885,[1] the Dow Jones Industrial Average has increased, despite several periods of decline. The index is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices, an entity majority-owned by S&P Global.

Experienced wealth advisors and investment analysts working on your behalf. Geared for young high earners and available when you need them. We’re here because wealth isn’t just about money; it’s about creating opportunities that define your future. We blend cutting-edge strategies with exclusive access, ensuring that every move you make amplifies your greatness. At Titan, we don’t just manage wealth—we empower you to shape your own legacy. Since the Dow tracks just 30 large-cap U.S. companies, some critics argue that it is too narrow to represent the state of the overall U.S. economy.

What are the areas of focus for Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes?

Like most other stock market indices, the Dow undergoes periods of general increase and general declines or stagnation. A bull market is a term denoting a period of price increases, while a bear market denotes a period of declines. Wall Street generally considers a bear market in session when multiple broad market indices have a downturn of 20% or more in value lasting for at least 2 months. The Dow started 2022 with a flourish, breaking closing records in the first two trading days of the year. The most recent record closing occurred on Jan. 4, when the index closed at 36,799.65, blowing past the all-time high closing of 36,585.06 it had just a day before. 5This was the Dow’s close at the peak of the 1920s bull market on Tuesday, September 3, 1929 before the stock market crash.

After the end of the second World War, the Dow started another recovery that ultimately led to the all-time closing high set back in 1929. Trading is typically carried out in an open outcry auction, or over an electronic network such as CME’s Globex platform. The value of the index can also be calculated as the sum of the stock prices of the companies included in the index, divided by a factor, which is approximately 0.152 as of April 2024[update]. The factor is changed whenever a constituent company undergoes a stock split so that the value of the index is unaffected by the stock split. The easiest way to invest in the Dow may be to buy shares in State Street Global Advisors’ SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust, which trades under the ticker symbol DIA. On Monday, Sept. 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers Holding, Inc. (an investment bank) declared bankruptcy.

1. It took almost four years for the market to bottom out at that time.
2. Between Jan. 7, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2022, the Dow declined from 36,231.66 to 28,725.51.
3. However, Monday, December 5, 2016 was when the Dow first closed above 19,200.
4. The CME FedWatch Tool shows investors still expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates twice by the end of the year.
5. The index closed above 18,000 on Dec. 23, and then closed its high for the year at 18,053.71 on Dec. 26.

It hit an all-time high of 34,200.67 points on April 16, 2021. In the autumn, it began to consistently close above 35,000 points, and by the last week in December 2021, it surpassed 36,000 points. Uncertainty had been hanging over the markets because of the unprecedented refusal of then-President Donald Trump to concede the election to President-elect Biden. When Trump began the transition process late on Nov. 23, 2020, stocks came roaring back.

The index’s 2016 closing high was 19,974.62, set on Dec. 20, 2016. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is one of the many gauges of stock market performance. This history of the Dow since the Great Depression demonstrates how stock market fluctuations reflect the natural stages of the business cycle. Conversely, an encouraging drop in inflation reported earlier this week helped to fuel this latest rally. Consumer prices rose 3.4% from last April – a decline from March’s 3.5% annual increase.

The index hit its highest price at any time on May 16, 2024, when it surpassed 40,000 for the first time. 23The Dow first traded the 5 most traded currency pairs in 2021 2021 above 35,000 on Monday, May 10, 2021 before closing below it for the day. After two and a half months worth of several attempts, the Dow finally closed above 35,000 on Friday, July 23, 2021.

After closing above 2,000 in January 1987,[43] the largest one-day percentage drop occurred on Black Monday, October 19, 1987, when the average fell 22.61%. The indexes’ successful day comes after the Commerce Department reported a 0.2% jump in prices to 2.5%, the same inflation rate from the same period last year and just a 0.1% increase from the previous month. By Jan. 20, it closed at 15,766.74, as investors panicked over plummeting oil prices, the devaluation of the yuan, and turmoil in China’s stock market. Of the 26 records set that year, 17 occurred after the presidential election.

(34 record closes)

The Dow is now up more than 10% on the year while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are trading up 18% within the same period. This week, the indexes navigated a slide in shares of Nvidia, which has occasionally swayed the larger market this year as the best stock on the S&P 500. The indexes were largely unaffected during the Nvidia slump Thursday, as the AI company’s stock dropped 6.3% to $117.59 per share. It hit two of them in the first few weeks in January, small savings add up to big money closing above 25,000 on Jan. 4. The index breached 26,000 on Jan. 17, then continued on to set 15 closing records in the rest of 2018.

The Dow had two streaks lasting more than 10 days, which had not occurred since 1959. The Dow responded with new highs throughout the latter part of 2019, even though trade negotiations had broken down until November. It hit a milestone on July 11, closing above 27,000, and then another on Nov. 15, closing above 28,000 (in the chart below, milestones are noted).

Some exclude certain industries from a region or index, such as gambling and weapons. Others apply S&P Global’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment to geographic regions. It beat its January high, rising to 9,093.24 by the close of the day. The Senate reintroduced the bailout as the Troubled Asset Relief Program on Oct. 3. While the 40,000 milestone is attention-grabbing, the number itself means little to investors. Information provided by Titan Support is for informational and general educational purposes only and is not investment or financial advice.

The Century Turnover Bull Market (1896–

This level would not be seen again until Tuesday, November 23, 1954, more than 25 years later. The 2008 stock market crash was more dramatic than any other downturn in U.S. history. It took almost four years for the market to bottom out at that time. Stock market gains since the 2008 financial crisis were mediocre in volume.

From our popular active equity strategy (Flagship) to our award-winning cash management product (Smart Cash) and beyond. Being with Titan means having personalized guidance from experienced advisors on how to grow your wealth. Perhaps the most infamous trough was during the Great Depression, in which the Dow lost about 90% of its value over three years. It hit a low of 41.22 in 1932 (about 908 points, inflation-adjusted).

These funds track the DJIA through a similar composition and weighting of stocks. The largest single-day drop, percentage-wise, that the Dow has had occurred when the market crashed on Oct. 19, 1987, Black Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, also Sales trader known as the Dow or DJIA, tracks 30 large, well-known companies that trade on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. The Dow’s all-time high at market close stands at 39,908.00, reached on May 15, 2024.