Dow Jones Breaks Above 21,000

The Dow Jones Industrial Average topped 21,000 points for the first time, with the blue-chip index reaching the milestone a scant five weeks after breaching the 20,000 mark. 

Stocks shot out of the gate on Wednesday, led by big gains in banks as investors expected interest rates to rise. Financial markets also seemed to take comfort in President Trump’s speech last night to a joint session of Congress.

The Dow jumped 222 points, or 1 percent, to 21,034, a new record, shortly after trade opened. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 20 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,384. The Nasdaq composite increased 46 points, or 0.8 percent, to 5,872.

JPMorgan Chase rose 2.6 percent and Goldman Sachs rose 2.1 percent, the biggest increases in the Dow.

Bond prices fell and yields rose after a Federal Reserve official, New York Fed President William Dudley, said the case for raising interest rates had gotten stronger.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.45 percent.

Expectations are rising that the Federal Reserve could move to raise short-term interest rates in March. The fed funds futures market puts the likelihood of a hike at 69 percent, up from only 35 percent on Tuesday, according to PNC Financial Services Group.

via CBS

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