Dow breaks 28,000 with big boost from one company

Trump on stocks: Another record 'despite an ongoing, & totally unfounded Witch Hunt'

The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed another major milestone on Friday: 28,000.

After hovering near that level for much of the day, prompting Twitter attention from the White House, the index finally broke through moments before the New York Stock Exchange's closing bell. Apple fueled the climb, rallying nearly 31 percent over the 90 trading sessions since the index topped 27,000 and contributing more than 421 points. The tech giant’s gains were driven by two quarters of strong quarterly earnings and robust demand for the new iPhone 11.

“Another Record Stock Market, 21 times this year, despite an ongoing, & totally unfounded, Witch Hunt, & a Democrat Party that would love to see a nice, big, juicy recession,” President Trump tweeted Friday morning.

A Republican, Trump has complained repeatedly that an impeachment inquiry in the Democratically-controlled House of Representatives is unwarranted and argued that his removal would hurt the economy.

Along with Apple, a handful of other heavyweights contributed to the Dow's meteoric climb since July 11. JPMorgan Chase and United Technologies both rallied more than 13 percent in the period and are responsible for a combined 220 points of the advance.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
AAPL APPLE INC. 168.64 -0.38 -0.22%
JPM JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 192.75 -0.37 -0.19%
UTX n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
BA THE BOEING CO. 160.95 -3.39 -2.06%

Even Boeing, which has been grappling with the fallout from two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max aircraft, has provided a boost. The planemaker's shares have climbed 3.6 percent since the Dow crossed the 27,000 plateau, with all the gains coming after the company's Monday prediction that the best-selling jetliner would return to service in January.

US RECESSION ODDS ARE DWINDLING, KEY INDICATORS SHOW

As quickly as the Dow has marched from 27,000 to 28,000, though, the pace is nowhere near the index’s fastest 1,000-point gain. That honor goes to the advance from 25,000 to 26,000, which tacked on 4.15 percent and occurred over an eight-day span in early 2018, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

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In comparison, the slowest climb was the advance from 1,000 to 2,000, which the Dow reached in January 1987 after 21,652 days. Of course, the index needed to gain 99.59 percent in that case.