Dow Jones index surges to record high
6 March 2013 5:54 AM IST
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to a new all-time high as trade opened on Tuesday, surpassing the record set more than five years ago. About 45 minutes into trade, the Dow was at 14,255.94, up 128.12 points (0.91 per cent) from Monday's close and well past the previous intra-day high of 14,198.10 set on October 11, 2007. The Dow was also more than 90 points above its all-time closing high of 14,164 set on October 9, 2007.
The broad-based S&P 500 picked up 13.55 (0.89 per cent) to 1,538.75, still shy of its closing and intra-day records also set in October 2007. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 33.11 (1.04 percent) to 3,215.14.
'This is something that's been building for months and months,' said FTN Financial Chief Economist Chris Low of the record. 'It's always significant, particularly significant because this economic cycle has been so challenging,' said Low.
Tuesday's surge came on the heels of rising markets in China and throughout Europe, Low pointed out. But he predicted that the Dow would have trouble keeping its upward momentum in the coming months because of the effects of the US payroll tax increase and the federal spending cuts known as the sequester.
Meeschaert New York Director Gregori Volokhine said that while the Dow record was significant, the bigger achievement would be when the S&P 500 breaks its all-time record — the closing high of 1,565 from October 9, 2007, and the intra-day peak of 1,576 struck two days later. 'The S&P 500 'represents the 500 biggest companies in the US and gives a very general view of the American economy while the Dow is more concentrated because it has just 30 companies,' said Volokhine. 'So we'll keep the champagne in the refrigerator.
Virtually all of the components of the blue-chip Dow index moved higher. The gains were broad-based, though most stocks did not pick up more than 1 per cent.
The biggest gainers included Cisco Systems (1.9 per cent), United Technologies (1.7 per cent) and Bank of America (1.5 per cent).
The broad-based S&P 500 picked up 13.55 (0.89 per cent) to 1,538.75, still shy of its closing and intra-day records also set in October 2007. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 33.11 (1.04 percent) to 3,215.14.
'This is something that's been building for months and months,' said FTN Financial Chief Economist Chris Low of the record. 'It's always significant, particularly significant because this economic cycle has been so challenging,' said Low.
Tuesday's surge came on the heels of rising markets in China and throughout Europe, Low pointed out. But he predicted that the Dow would have trouble keeping its upward momentum in the coming months because of the effects of the US payroll tax increase and the federal spending cuts known as the sequester.
Meeschaert New York Director Gregori Volokhine said that while the Dow record was significant, the bigger achievement would be when the S&P 500 breaks its all-time record — the closing high of 1,565 from October 9, 2007, and the intra-day peak of 1,576 struck two days later. 'The S&P 500 'represents the 500 biggest companies in the US and gives a very general view of the American economy while the Dow is more concentrated because it has just 30 companies,' said Volokhine. 'So we'll keep the champagne in the refrigerator.
Virtually all of the components of the blue-chip Dow index moved higher. The gains were broad-based, though most stocks did not pick up more than 1 per cent.
The biggest gainers included Cisco Systems (1.9 per cent), United Technologies (1.7 per cent) and Bank of America (1.5 per cent).
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