Dow Jones industrials close above 21,000 for first time

Wall Street closed with strong gains on Wednesday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the main market indicator, rising 1.45 per cent and ending the day above 21,000 for the first time in history in the wake of President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress.

All the major indexes moved into record territory, with the DJIA up 303.31 points to 21,115.55 at the close of trading, Efe news agency reported.

The big-cap S&P 500 index was up 1.37 per cent, at 2.395,96, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ composite gained 1.35 percent to close at 5.904,03, both new records.

Investors bid up equity prices in reaction to Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday night, a speech that many on Wall Street viewed as a shift to a more unifying tone and a doubling down on plans to stimulate job creation with across-the-board tax cuts and a $1 trillion infrastructure plan.

Share prices have moved sharply higher since Trump, a billionaire New York businessman, shocked the world by winning the November 8 presidential election, sparking optimism among investors about stronger economic growth in the US.

The DJIA, which is made up of 30 "blue chip" stocks, including IBM, ExxonMobil and Coca-Cola, closed above 20,000 for the first time on January 25.

--IANS

qd/