New York Report: Dow breaks 17,000 barrier
The Dow Jones Industrial Average yesterday smashed through 17,000 points for the first time ever in intraday trading, after an encouraging report on US job creation helped to reassure investors that economic growth could support stock benchmarks at all-time highs.
The Dow rose 0.41 per cent, to 17,045.43, the S&P 500 index was up 0.6 per cent, to 1,985.44, while the Nasdaq composite index also added 0.6 per cent, to 4,485.93. With the move above 17,000, the Dow stands 14 per cent higher than a year ago.
Volume was extremely light in the shortened session ahead of the 4 July holiday, with only 3.49bn shares traded on all US platforms, according to BATS exchange data. The five-day average is 6.29bn.
About 55 per cent of New York Stock Exchange shares ended higher, while 64 per cent of Nasdaq-listed stocks made gains.