- Title: Dow comes within 1 point of 20,000;
- Date: 6th January 2017
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 6, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CUTTONE AND COMPANY SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT KEITH BLISS, SAYING: "The Dow Jones Industrial Average is one of those hallmarks of American commerce and American capitalism that is the focus as well as the envy of most people around the world so every time we hit one of these big benchmarks whether it is a thousand point move which doesn't seem so significant anymore but really in 5,000 move tranches the rest of the world takes notice. 20,000 is one of those mythic levels that we thought we would never hit and now we are coming ever so close to it.
- Embargoed: 21st January 2017 21:35
- Keywords: stocks NYSE earnings markets trading Dow Keith Bliss
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Economic Events,Equities Markets
- Reuters ID: LVA0025XY1J0T
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:The Dow came within one point of 20,000 for the first time on Friday (January 6) and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 reached record highs, boosted by Apple, extending a two-month rally fueled by optimism about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Apple climbed 1.1 percent after Canada's Competition Bureau did not find sufficient evidence the iPhone maker had engaged in anti-competitive conduct, closing a two-year investigation into the company.
Wall Street has been on a tear since Trump won the U.S. election in November, with the Dow up 9 percent as investors bet he will stimulate the economy with lower taxes and infrastructure spending. While Friday's gains suggested the rally was not yet over, some investors have grown cautious.
The record trading session followed a U.S. Labor Department report that showed the economy added fewer-than-expected jobs last month but wages increased, suggesting resilience in the labor market.
Stocks did not react significantly to a report that five people were dead in a shooting at Florida's Fort Lauderdale airport.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 64.51 points, or 0.32 percent, to end at 19,963.8 points. The index rose as high as 19,999.63 but lost ground. Goldman Sachs rose 1.48 percent, helping the Dow more than any other stock.
The S&P 500 gained 7.98 points, or 0.35 percent, to 2,276.98, its highest close ever. The Nasdaq Composite added 33.12 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5,521.06, also a record.
Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors rose, led by the technology sector's 0.96 percent gain.
For the week, the Dow rose 1 percent while the S&P gained 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq jumped 2.6 percent.
The strength of fourth-quarter earnings reports from U.S. companies over the next few weeks will be closely watched by investors eyeing high stock valuations.
During the session, Amgen rose 2.48 percent after a U.S. district judge blocked Sanofi and Regeneron from selling their cholesterol drug, which Amgen said infringed its patents. Regeneron fell 5.84 percent and was the biggest percentage loser on the S&P 500. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
