The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 26,000 points for the first time on Wednesday. The nation’s oldest stock index rose 1.25 percent to close at 26,115.
The Dow hit the 25,000 mark just over two weeks ago, making this the fastest-even thousand-point gain for the index. The Dow hit 26,000 in intraday trading on Tuesday, but dropped at the close.
The new record comes in the early days of earnings season for the last quarter of 2017. Many multinational corporations have announced onetime charges for bringing home money held abroad, but investors expect them to benefit in the long run from the decision to cut the standard tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and are bidding up their share prices. Other companies have said they’ll use savings from tax reform to buy back stocks.
The S&P 500 closed at 2,802, up nine-tenths of a percentage point, and the Nasdaq composite closed up 1 percent, at 7,298.
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