Stock Market Milestone: Dow Closes Above 14,000
Published at | Updated at
Hemera/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — If you measure recovery by the stock market, then it’s like the recession never happened. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 14,000 for the first time since October 2007.
Closing at 14,009.79, the Dow added 149.21 points Friday. The index is now 154.74 points or one percent from its all-time high.
“The market is saying that corporate America has effectively recovered from the boom and the bust of the last five years,” says Cary Leahy at Decision Economics. The rest of the economy, Leahy says, is still catching up.
The S&P 500 index climbed 15.06 points to 1,513.17 just one day after topping a five percent monthly gain. The Nasdaq added 36.97 points, to close at 3,179.10.
The jobs numbers Friday provided some hope for investors. Employers added to their payrolls despite a contraction in economic output last quarter, though not by enough to reduce the unemployment rate still stuck just below eight percent.
Other reports on manufacturing, construction and auto sales also gave the markets a boost. Manufacturing expanded in January, reaching a nine-month high. Construction spending increased in December. And car sales rose in January, raising hopes that 2013 will be a good year for carmakers in the U.S.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio