By Mark DeCambre, MarketWatch
MarketWatch photo illustration/Getty Images
That was fast! The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday closed above 21,000 for the first time ever, soaring to a psychologically significant level and marking one of its quickest runs to such a milestone.
The blue-chip gauge closed above 20,000 just a few weeks ago, marking a then-second-fastest push (42 days) to a 1,000-point milestone. The Dow’s Wednesday rally matches the fastest-ever such move at 24 days, equaling the same span of trading sessions between 10,000 and 11,000 in May 1999.
Equity benchmarks appear to be shaking off the prospect of an interest-rate hike as early as mid-March to touch another key level, on the heels of reignited optimism about the health of the U.S. and global economy and the belief that Trump can bring into reality campaign promises that include boosting fiscal spending and cutting taxes.
Details around those reforms are still scant but investors appeared to be heartened by the tone Trump established during his address in front of joint session of Congress in a State of the Union-style speech late Tuesday .
Check out: How the stock market has reacted to State of the Union speeches
The Dow /zigman2/quotes/210598065/realtime DJIA +0.75% is up 15.2% since Trump’s Nov. 8 election victory, the S&P 500 index /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX +0.85% has gained nearly 11%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index /zigman2/quotes/210598365/realtime COMP +1.01% has advanced 13.7% during that period.
Of course, as the market rises, each 1,000-point advance becomes smaller on a percentage basis. The move from 20,000 to 21,000 marks a 5% rise, while the move from 19,000 to 20,000 was a 5.3% move. The move between 10,000 and 11,000 in 1999 marked a 10% rise.
On Wednesday, the Dow closed more than 300 points, or 1.5%, higher at 21,115, The S&P 500 gained 32 points, or 1.4%, at 2,395, while the Nasdaq Composite Index added 78 points, or 1.4%, at 5,904. All three benchmarks logged fresh all-time closing highs.
Read : MarketWatch’s stock-market column
Check out a table of how quickly the Dow has reached previous milestones, with 2017’s 1,000-point jumps in bold.
| Trading sessions between 1000-point milestones | Dow’s 1000-point milestone | Date of first close above 1000-milestone |
| 24 | 11,000 | 5/3/1999 |
| 24 | 21,000 | 03/01/2017 |
| 42 | 20,000 | 01/25/2017 |
| 59 | 14,000 | 7/19/2007 |
| 85 | 7,000 | 2/13/1997 |
| 105 | 8,000 | 7/16/1997 |
| 108 | 18,000 | 12/4/2014 |
| 127 | 13,000 | 4/25/2007 |
| 139 | 16,000 | 11/21/2013 |
| 153 | 17,000 | 7/3/2014 |
| 182 | 9,000 | 4/6/1998 |
| 189 | 5,000 | 11/21/1995 |
| 226 | 6,000 | 10/14/1996 |
| 246 | 10,000 | 3/29/1999 |
| 483 | 19,000 | 11/22/2016 |
| 975 | 4,000 | 2/23/1995 |
| 1,080 | 3,000 | 4/17/1991 |
| 1,460 | 15,000 | 5/7/2013 |
| 1,879 | 12,000 | 10/19/2006 |
| 3,573 | 2,000 | 1/08/1987 |
| 21,652 | 1,000 | 11/14/1972 |
Check out : The stocks that contributed to the Dow’s 21,000 climb
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