Dow crosses the 35000 milestone as stocks hit record high

The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed the 35,000 thresholds for the first time on Friday closing at a record high after a major pullback witnessed on Monday, this week. Even the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes hit record highs on Friday ending the week with gains. 

The gains were mainly due to upbeat performance in the mega-cap growth stocks. In addition to that easing fears about the impact of the delta coronavirus variant on the economic recovery and the upbeat corporate earnings, also aided the rally. 

The Dow advanced 238 points, or 0.7%, to end near 35,062. The S&P 500 rose around 44 points, or 1%, to close near 4,412, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 152 points, or 1%, closing near 14,837.

Monday’s market witnessed a steep fall in U.S. stocks, treasuries, and oil prices due to growing fears plaguing investors about the tenacity of the global economic recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its steepest decline since October, as it fell 725.81 points, or 2.1%, to 33962.04.

From Tuesday, with major companies, reporting quarterly earnings, the anxiety surrounding the spread of the delta variant had waned and investors were focusing on the strong string of earnings, setting off a four-day streak of gains.

Meanwhile, the IHS Markit survey showed that U.S. business activity had declined in July as the services sector cooled amid supply constraints after what was expected to have been a strong second quarter. The manufacturing and services industry tracker, Flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index, fell to a four-month low of 59.7 in July from 63.7 in the previous month, reported the survey.

The tensions between U.S. and China haven’t stopped escalating as China intensifies its crackdown on U.S.-listed Chinese companies, expanding to the education sector. TAL Education shares fell 58% and New Oriental Education and Technology shares dropped by 56% after China announced a ban on foreign investment in the education sector and ordered all tutoring companies to go non-profit.

The 10-year Treasury yield was up to 1.281% on Friday from 1.264% on Thursday recovering all the lost ground after sliding Monday. 

The international benchmark in the oil market, the Brent-crude futures, gained 0.4% for the day, rising to $74.10 a barrel.

Social media stocks rallied on Friday sending Wall Street investors out into the green. After reporting their quarterly results, Twitter gained 4.2%, while Snapchat-owner Snap Inc, which beat estimates for revenue and user growth, was 22.5%.

Twitter and Snap Inc’s results, got investors optimistic about Facebook, which jumped 6.7%.

Wall Street is now setting its eyes on the FAANG group next week as Amazon.com, Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, and Google-owner Alphabet Inc, which rallied today, will release their quarterly results next week.

Picture Credits: Getty Images