Dow Jones shoots above 25,000 points
January 4, 2018
The Dow moved past the psychologically important 25,000-point threshold for the first time ever only minutes after trading started on Thursday. About 10 minutes after the opening bell, the index stood at 25,035.74 points, up 0.5 percent.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent in early trading, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also advanced by 0.4 percent.
Market experts noted that the fresh surge came in the wake of strong US private-sector hiring data and a generally positive environment after the enactment of the US tax reform.
Problem child Intel
Hiring by private US companies increased considerably in December and surged far more than expected, with nearly all of the gain concentrated in the services sector, payroll firm ADP reported Thursday.
The service sector has long been a bulwark of the economy, but hiring providers saw the biggest increase in 18 months, which more than offset slower hiring activity by goods-producing firms.
The rapid rise of the Dow Jones could have been even stronger, had it not been for Intel whose shares dipped by 4 percent in early trading, after already shedding 3.4 percent on Wednesday after a reported security risk in some of its microprocessor chips.
hg/jd (Reuters, AFP)