The Dow Jones Industrial Average topped 50,000 points for the first time during Friday’s trading. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surpassed 50,000 points for the first time in its history as most blue-chip stocks gained during trading Friday.
The Dow set a new record of 50,115.67 after posting an average gain of 1,207 points and 2.4%, while 28 of 30 blue-chip stocks rose in value during the day’s trading.
The Dow’s record day caused it to post a 2.5% gain for the week.
NVIDIA led the charge with a 7.87% gain while closing at 185.41 after rising 13.53 in value, and Caterpillar posted a 7.04% gain after rising 47.74 in value and closing 726.2.
Investors credited the nation’s economy and significant corporate earnings with spurring the day’s gains after overcoming an emotionally driven selloff earlier in the week, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“Emotional deleveraging selloffs, such as this week, are unnerving,” Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide, told the news outlet.
Despite the earlier selloff, Hackett said the “macro and earnings environment remain encouraging.”
In addition to the Dow gains on Friday, investors spurred a 1.97% gain for the S&P 500, which rose 133.90 points and closed at 6,932.30.
The Nasdaq Composite also posted a significant gain by rising 2.18% and 490.63 points to close at 23,031.21 for the day.
Despite the gains on Friday, the S&P 500 was down a slight 0.1% and the Nasdaq 1.8% for the week.
Investments by tech firms in artificial intelligence generally fueled the day’s gains.
“We’re in a gold rush right now with AI,” Falcon Wealth Planning founder Gabriel Shahin told CNBC.
“You have the investment that Google is making, Nvidia is making, that Meta is making [and] that Amazon is making,” Shanin said. “There is money that will be deployed.”
He said investors are moving away from growth stocks and favoring those that provide value amid a “great recalibration.”
