Market Extra: Dow scores its highest close in history. Here’s what that means in the big picture.

by | Dec 13, 2023 | Stock Market

The Dow Jones Industrial Average scored both an intraday high and a record close on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled a pivot to rate cuts was likely in 2024. The Dow
DJIA
went up 512.30 points, or 1.4%, to close at 37,090.24, marking the first time the index has risen above 37,000 intraday, according to Dow Jones Market Data. It traded as high as 37,094.85 on Wednesday.

Bigger picture: Including Wednesday’s record Dow close, it has been 531 trading days since the Dow’s last 1,000-point milestone, the longest time between milestones since 14,000 to 15,000. The U.S. central bank on Wednesday kept its key policy rate unchanged at the range of 5.25% to 5.5%, a 22-year high, while officials penciled in three rate cuts in 2024, according to its revised dot-plot forecast. In an afternoon press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank was “very focused” on not making the mistake of keeping rates restrictive for too long. His comments propelled all three of the major equity benchmarks up at least 1.3% on Wednesday. The S&P 500 index
SPX
finished up 1.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP
ended 1.4% higher. That marked their biggest daily increases in about a month, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Russell 2000 index
RUT
of small-cap stocks outperform …

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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnThe Dow Jones Industrial Average scored both an intraday high and a record close on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled a pivot to rate cuts was likely in 2024. The Dow
DJIA
went up 512.30 points, or 1.4%, to close at 37,090.24, marking the first time the index has risen above 37,000 intraday, according to Dow Jones Market Data. It traded as high as 37,094.85 on Wednesday.

Bigger picture: Including Wednesday’s record Dow close, it has been 531 trading days since the Dow’s last 1,000-point milestone, the longest time between milestones since 14,000 to 15,000. The U.S. central bank on Wednesday kept its key policy rate unchanged at the range of 5.25% to 5.5%, a 22-year high, while officials penciled in three rate cuts in 2024, according to its revised dot-plot forecast. In an afternoon press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank was “very focused” on not making the mistake of keeping rates restrictive for too long. His comments propelled all three of the major equity benchmarks up at least 1.3% on Wednesday. The S&P 500 index
SPX
finished up 1.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP
ended 1.4% higher. That marked their biggest daily increases in about a month, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Russell 2000 index
RUT
of small-cap stocks outperform …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]

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