Dow Jones Hit New Record High, Passing the $28,000 Mark

WASHINGTON, D.C. – US Stock market ended on an optimistic level on Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, one of the major indexes in the US hit a record high and passing the $28,000 price mark for the first time.

Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 US indexes also hit record highs as Friday ends. The Dow Jones has already extended its upward streak of weekly gains on Friday, marking its uptrend for four weeks straight now. Technology and health care stocks mainly powered the broad rally for the US market.

Investor sentiments have been optimistic because of positive corporate earnings, three Federal Reserve rate cuts, and numbers reported showing that the US economy continuously grows. The hopes for the US-China trade agreement have also kept investors in an optimistic mood throughout the week.

According to an investment strategist at Baird, Willie Delwiche, the market has been affected by various challenging trade news over the past week, which didn’t end well for the stock prices. He also said that the positive momentum the market is starting to gain might be caused by the inability of bearish news to pull the market down.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to 0.8%, gaining 222.93 price points to its current 28,004.89 price mark. On the other hand, the Nasdaq Composite index is trading at 8,540.83 currently, rising 61.81 points on Friday, S&P500 index reached 3,120.46 through a 23.83 points increase, and the Russell 2000 index is trading at 1,596.45 now from a 7.66 points increase.

Three of the major stock indexes in the US, Dow Jones, Nasdaq Composite, and S&P 500 ended the week with more than 20% increase for the year.

The positive sentiment for the market this week came after most investors shrugged the negative news during the week about the US-China trade agreement hitting a snag. It came after a Friday statement from Wilbur Ross, Commerce Secretary, stating that it is likely that the trade agreement will get done. However, he also noted that it is also possible that something would come out last minute like it did when the US and China got near closing the deal in May.

The health care shares led the uptrend on Friday with a 5.6% increase for Anthem, 5.5% gain for Humana, and the 5.3% incline for UnitedHealth Group. The technology stocks also inched higher, with a 9% increase for Applied Materials. Communication services also supported the market increase with a 1.9% gain for Google parent Alphabet.

Despite the US stock price increase for the majority of the sectors, gold and silver fell to $1,467.30 and $16.93 per ounce respectively, while copper gained $2.64 per pound.