"Crossing the 26,000 "milestone" only requires a 4 percent gain from the 25000 'milestone,' Weiner said. "If it does so today, in just seven trading days, that may be the fastest crossing ever, yes. But put into context the Dow has risen 4 percent or more over seven trading days 110 times since the market bottomed in March 2009."</s>The Dow Jones industrial average closes above 26,000 points for the first time.</s>Stocks are closing higher on Wall Street, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to its first close above 26,000 points.

The Dow had traded above that level on Tuesday but wound up closing lower that day. The Dow’s surge on Wednesday was driven in part by a big gain in Boeing.

With the stock market reaching records so often, 1,000-point moves in the Dow have become increasingly commonplace. It’s been just eight trading days since the Dow had its first close above 25,000.

Technology stocks were again some of the biggest winners. Microsoft rose 2%. The Dow rose 332 points, or 1.3%, to 26,115. The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 26 points, or 0.9%, to 2,802. The Nasdaq composite gained 74 points, or 1%, to 7,298.</s>Jan 16 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones Industrial Average touched the 26,000-mark for the first time on Tuesday and other Wall Street indexes climbed as strong earnings from UnitedHealth and Citigroup helped lift the sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 198.99 points, or 0.77 percent, to 26,002.18. The S&P 500 gained 13.76 points, or 0.493856 percent, to 2,800. The Nasdaq Composite added 45.95 points, or 0.63 percent, to 7,307.01. (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D‘Silva)</s>Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 200 points on Tuesday, indicating that the blue-chip index could open above 26,000 for the first time, supported by strong earnings from UnitedHealth.

Shares of the largest U.S. health insurer rose 3 percent in premarket trading after the company reported fourth-quarter results that beat analysts’ estimates and raised its full-year profit forecast.

If the Dow hits 26,000 on Tuesday, it would mark its fastest 1000-point rise. It ended above 25,000 on Jan. 4.</s>NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing higher on Wall Street, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to its first close above 26,000 points.

The Dow had traded above that level on Tuesday but wound up closing lower that day. The Dow’s surge on Wednesday was driven in part by a big gain in Boeing.

With the stock market reaching records so often, 1,000-point moves in the Dow have become increasingly commonplace. It’s been just eight trading days since the Dow had its first close above 25,000.

Technology stocks were again some of the biggest winners. Microsoft rose 2 percent.

The Dow rose 332 points, or 1.3 percent, to 26,115.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 26 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,802.

The Nasdaq composite gained 74 points, or 1 percent, to 7,298.

This is a developing story. Stay with 8News online and on air for the latest updates.

Find 8News on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram; send your news tips to iReport8@wric.com.</s>The stock market is on fire. The Dow just zoomed another 300 points and closed above 26,000 for the first time.

The latest rush to buy stocks left the average up almost 8,000 points since President Trump's 2016 election.

The rally on Wednesday gave the Dow its best percentage gain since since November. And it showed that the upward trend remains intact despite a big reversal the day before. The Dow hit 26,000 on Tuesday morning before closing much lower.

Wall Street is fired up because U.S. unemployment is the lowest in 17 years, global economic growth is gaining steam, corporate profits have never been stronger, and companies are sitting on record amounts of cash.

Investors also love the GOP corporate tax cut, which will save companies billions of dollars and give them even more money to return to shareholders and to buy and merge with other companies.

Related: A bond selloff could be 'Armageddon' for th emarket

But the velocity of the rally is raising eyebrows. It took just seven trading days for the Dow to climb from 25,000 to 26,000. While that is just a 4% advance, it's part of a broader surge that has carried the Dow 42% during the Trump era. And the market rise has come with virtually no breaks.

Some analysts worry that investors are so euphoric that the market is in a "melt-up." These buying frenzies are fueled by fear of missing out on the party instead of fundamentals like earnings.

That kind of behavior is typical at the end of bull markets, according to Dan Suzuki, U.S. equity strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

"As euphoria starts to take hold of the market, you see upside accelerate," he said.</s>The Dow surpassed 26,000 for the first time Tuesday, though Wall Street pulled back in the final hours of trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 10 points lower at 25,792. The S&P 500 slipped 9 points to 2,776. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 37 points to 7,223.



It took a mere seven sessions for the Dow to jump from 25,000 to 26,000, marking the fastest 1,000-point rally in the blue-chip index’s history. Robust corporate earnings and optimism over economic policies, mainly the $1.5 trillion tax-cut package, have helped drive stocks higher in 2018.

“We won’t see who the true winners and losers of tax reform are for another couple of quarters. However, we are getting to Dow 26,000 because investors are treating every company like a winner,” said Alexandra Coupe, associate director for PAAMCO.

Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance, also said fiscal stimulus and improved corporate earnings are serving as tailwinds. However, the market’s rapid rise may give pause to investors.

“The speed at which the market has moved higher these past two weeks is unsettling, and the risk of overheating this year is rising,” Zaccarelli said, adding that a meaningful pullback later this year wouldn’t be surprising.

UnitedHealth (UNH) and Merck (MRK) contributed to the Dow’s early gains on its way to 26,000 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth topped estimates for fourth-quarter earnings and raised its outlook for 2018, citing federal tax reform. Merck surged 5.8% after a trial study showed that one of its drugs, Keytruda, combined with two chemotherapy medicines, was successful in treating lung cancer.

General Electric (GE) was down 2.9% following comments from CEO John Flannery, who said the industrial conglomerate is considering a breakup.</s>The Dow closed above 26,000 for the first time Wednesday, continuing an early-year stock surge that has pushed the U.S. market to fresh records.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 323 points, or 1.3%, to a record 26,115.65, according to preliminary numbers.

The fresh milestone comes just 13 calendar days after the 30-stock index topped 25,000, marking the fastest 1,000-point climb in its history, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The Dow, which rallied 25.1% last year, has continued its surge at the start of 2018 amid rising optimism that tax cuts will lift corporate earnings and the economy.</s>The Dow was at it again Tuesday, briefly soaring past the 26,000-point mark for the first time — but investors could’ve used seat belts for this roller-coaster ride of a day.

The ride may not be over, either, as analysts suggested the Dow Jones Industrial Average stock index could see more gains in the months ahead as investors and traders fixate on the distant goal of topping 30,000 points. They may have the wind at their backs as tax reforms mean U.S. businesses and many taxpayers are poised to keep more of their money in 2018.

Before shedding all of the day’s gains, the Dow briefly reached an all-time high of 26,086.12 on Tuesday. It was the index’s second 1,000-point milestone this year, and it came in record time — just seven trading days after the bellwether stock market gauge first crossed the 25,000-point mark.

“The Dow’s performance in the first two weeks of 2018 has been nothing short of breathtaking,” said Jesse Cohen, senior editor at Investing.com. “The gains have been made thanks to optimism over the Republican tax cut and hopes it will boost corporate profits and provide a fresh spark to the economy. I see more gains ahead, with the Dow hitting 30,000 only a few months away.”

The pace at which the Dow made it to 26,000 looks even more impressive when considering that the Dow’s previous record for a 1,000-point gain was 23 trading days between Nov. 30, 2017 and Jan. 4, 2018.

As trading progressed Tuesday, investors engaged in some profit taking, and the Dow slipped back below 26,000 to close at 25,792.86. However, even though the index ended the day in the red, Tuesday’s milestone stood out as part of a white-hot winning streak during the 14 months since the election of President Donald Trump.

In 2017, the Dow rose almost 5,000 points, and it is up by 4.3 percent since 2018’s trading began on Jan. 2.

“What was working last year is, to a large extent, working this year, ” said Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. equity strategist at Credit Suisse. “Last year, we experienced a broad global recovery, and economic data was pretty much better everywhere in the world. Small business gauges, consumer confidence surveys, economic indices and earnings trends have been good. It’s really been extremely broad.”

Golub also echoed Cohen’s thoughts about the impact the recent tax bill is expected to have on the economy for both consumers and businesses.

“The average family is supposed get about $2,000 extra this year that they can spend on things they might not have spent on before,” Golub sad. “Corporate tax rates will come down and that means business have more more to buy back stock, increase dividends and reinvest for future growth. There’s an ‘everything is working’ narrative going on.”

Golub said that while investors have had many reasons to be happy with Wall Street of late, “The risk to this is that, at some point in time, wage inflation will come around and put some cold water on the fire.”

Wage gains haven’t risen as quickly as the stock market, but companies will eventually need to begin boosting salaries, and that will have some impact on earnings, he said.

However, Golub added that such a situation, “definitely won’t happen in the first six months, or longer in 2018.”

Then there is the wealth that the stock market has given to some of the best-known corporate founders and chief executives.

According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire’s Index, since the start of the year alone: Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos has become the richest person in the world, as his net worth has surged by $10.7 billion to $110 billion. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ fortune has grown by a relatively paltry $1.99 billion, to $93.8 billion over the first two weeks of trading this year. Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has also had a good year, as his net worth is up by $1.21 billion, at $74 billion.

Tech stocks have been one of the major forces behind the Dow’s record-setting gains, but on Tuesday the majority of the local Dow components mirrored the index’s early gains and its eventual mild retreat.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches 26,000 points for the first time, after surpassing the 25,000-mark on January 4.