Nasdaq breaks the 5,000 mark – New York Report
THE Nasdaq yesterday closed above 5,000 for the first time since the year 2000 dot-com bubble as tech stocks were boosted by deals, while the S&P 500 and Dow indexes hit records after economic data pointed to a slowly accelerating economy.
The Nasdaq composite index gained steam in the late afternoon to finish firmly above the milestone it last reached on March 27 2000, marking only the third time the index closed above 5,000.
It was boosted by chipmakers NXP Semiconductors, Intel as well as network equipment maker Cisco Systems after two big deal announcements.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 155.93 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 18,288.63, the S&P 500 gained 12.89 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 2,117.39 and the Nasdaq Composite added 44.57 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 5,008.10.