Dow Jones record high puts index over 40,000 for first time
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. The following are some milestones achieved by the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In parentheses, when helpful, we provide the Dow’s points as inflation-adjusted to Feb. 23, 2024, for a relative comparing to its record high.
Both of those factors sent inflation in the U.S. soaring to record levels not seen in over 40 years. 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 CME FedWatch Tool shows investors still expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates twice by the end of the year. Because of the price-weighted calculation method, a $1 change in the price of a stock in the DJIA doesn’t equate to one point in the index since that depends on the Dow divisor at the time. As such, point moves are a way to measure the relative change in the index’s value.
- Others apply S&P Global’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment to geographic regions.
- 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).
- Best Buy and Dollar General will report their latest results Thursday.
- While the 40,000 milestone is attention-grabbing, the number itself means little to investors.
- In 2019, the Dow hit two milestones and set 22 record closes.
(39 record closes)
Since the Great Depression, 2007 to 2008 has been the most dramatic period for the DJIA. The market fell more than 50% in just a year and a half because of subprime mortgage and credit crisis that kicked off the Great Recession. 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). By the end of 2023, the previous high, registered in January 2022, had been surpassed, and the 37,000 mark had been breached. The index reached a new all-time high on May 16, 2024, surpassing 40,000 for the first time.
Record Highs Set in 2022
The largest single-day drop, percentage-wise, that the Dow has had occurred when the market crashed on Oct. 19, 1987, Black Monday. An intraday point drop is defined as the difference between the opening price (which may or may not be the intraday high) and the intraday low. This is distinguished from a point swing, which is defined as the difference between the intraday high and the intraday low. Such records that turned positive are also recorded in a separate list. The previous day close is used to calculate the net change.
Investors worried that China’s yuan devaluation and the uncertainty over the Fed’s rate increase would push the index further downward. The Dow suffered a market correction between August 2015 and April 19, 2016, leading to a 2016 downturn. It began on Jan. 4, when the Dow closed 160 points lower as investors worried about a slowdown in China’s economic growth. The index had three nine-day runs, last occurring in 1955 (when there were four nine-day stretches). The Dow continuously moved higher eight months in a row (the last occurrence of this was in 1995). We’ve included a few key shocks to the stock markets along these timelines in addition to the presidents who were in office.
After closing above four ways to invest in foreign currencies 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%. 10This was the Dow’s close at the peak of August 25, 1987 before the Black Monday stock market crash. 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. The Dow hit one milestone and had 26 closing records in 2016. Of the 26 records set that year, 17 occurred after the presidential election.
(11 record closes)
The index’s 2016 closing high was 19,974.62, set on Dec. 20, 2016. It hit two of them in the first few weeks in January, 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. All these events created a lot of uncertainty for investors and the Dow bore the brunt of it, falling into a bear market in September 2022. Despite all time highs early in the year, how to use upgrade virtual card six of the 20 worst-one day point losses for the Dow occurred in 2022.
An intraday point gain is defined as the difference between the opening price (which may or may not be the intraday low) and the intraday high. Such records that turned negative are also recorded in a separate list. In early 1981, the index broke above 1,000 several times, but then retreated.
(7 record closes)
That said, when comparing the value of the DJIA over time, many financial sites, as we have done above, use an inflation-adjustment calculator such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor’s CPI since this gives the relative change over time. While you can’t directly buy shares in the market index, you can invest in the DJIA through index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA). These funds track the DJIA through a similar composition and weighting of stocks.
While the 40,000 milestone is attention-grabbing, the number itself means little to investors. These big, round numbers don’t mean much, but they do serve as a reminder that over time stock investments can pay off. The S&P 500 has returned about 10.6% annually for the past 100 years, according to analysis from Trade That Swing. Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations.
(1 record close)
Given its large-cap focus, the roster of companies included in the Dow fails to include companies of other sizes. Most market observers think the S&P 500 is a much better representation of the economy, as it includes 500 companies and draws more widely from different sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9 points, or less than 0.1%, which was good enough for its second all-time high in two days. Interest rate cuts would lower borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, potentially triggering a burst of economic activity through greater household spending and company investment. Where p are the prices of the component stocks and d is the Dow Divisor. The following is a list of the record closes of the Dow Jones Industrial Average grouped by year since May 26, 1896. The Dow gained 3,472.56 points during 2013, higher than any prior year on record.
The Dow tracks 30 large, publicly owned blue-chip companies trading on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. The What is the dow jones trading at selection is not based on strict quantitative criteria but rather on the decisions of the editors of The Wall Street Journal. Companies are chosen based on their reputation, growth, and relevance to the economy, with the aim of reflecting the overall health and trends of the industrial sector of the U.S. economy.
We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space. Exxon acquiring Pioneer for nearly $60 billion, a mysterious respiratory illness affecting dogs across the U.S. and the challenges against transgender health care. Before joining Forbes, he covered the Black Mountain, North Carolina community for the Asheville Citizen Times. Ty earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Auburn University and his master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. Shares of Intel, IBM and Home Depot helped drive the record-setting rally. 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.
The first four tables show only the largest one-day changes between a given day’s close and the close of the previous trading day,[1][2] not the largest changes during the trading day (i.e. intraday changes). On March 29, 1999, the average closed at 10,006.78, its first close above 10,000. This prompted a celebration on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor, complete with party hats.[55] Total gains for the decade exceeded 315%; from 2,753.20 to 11,497.12, which equates to 12.3% annually. The index is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices, an entity majority-owned by S&P Global. The ten components with the largest dividend yields are commonly referred to as the Dogs of the Dow. As with all stock prices, the prices of the constituent stocks and consequently the value of the index itself are affected by the performance of the respective companies as well as macroeconomic factors.
