The Dow Jones Industrial Average marked history on Friday — carving out its first breach of a psychological milestone since mid-July, as equity benchmarks mounted an assault on records on the back of hope for progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations.
The Dow DJIA, +0.80% closed up by just under 223 points, or 0.8%, at 28,004.89, representing the blue-chip index’s 11th record close of 2019 and its first 1,000-point milestone since July 11.
It has been 90 sessions since the blue-chip benchmark achieved a 1,000-point milestone, and it took 372 days to trade above the last such psychological level. Here’s a look at the past round-number milestones for the 123-year-old stock gauge.
The latest rally for the Dow comes as the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.77% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.73% also notched all-time closing highs after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Thursday said U.S.-China trade negotiators are getting close to an agreement but that President Donald Trump wasn’t yet ready to sign off.
Trump “likes what he sees, he’s not ready to make a commitment, he hasn’t signed off on a commitment for Phase 1, we heave no agreement just yet for Phase 1,” he said at a Council on Foreign Relations event, according to the Wall Street Journal.
President Trump’s international trade policies have been the biggest catalyst for volatility in U.S. stocks this year.
To be sure, there is nothing necessarily significant about the Dow’s eclipsing a round-number level, but some market experts say such achievements can spark so-called animal spirits, or bullish enthusiasm, among stock-market investors.
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