The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied more than 200 points Thursday to close above 27,000 for the first time.
Stocks moved higher this week as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s Capitol Hill testimony convinced investors that the Fed is certain to cut its interest rate target at least one-quarter of a percentage point at its monetary policy meeting at the close of July. On Thursday stocks got an additional boost from news that the White House was dropping a plan the curb drug rebates, boosting shares of several big health care companies.
President Donald Trump has been urging the Fed to cut rates for several months. This week it became clear that the Fed was prepared to deliver the cut–and likely a few more by year’s end.
The Dow closed with a gain of nearly 228 points, of 0.85 percent, to hit 27,088, a record high. The S&P 500 rose 6.8 points to just below 3,000, the intraday record high crossed on Wednesday. The Nasdaq Composite sank eight-tenths of a percentage point. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell by around half a percentage point.