NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th May, 2021) The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Wall Street's broadest equity barometer, hit record highs on Wednesday as industrial and leisure stocks battered during the height of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States rebounded amid a huge vaccination drive against the virus and falling infections.
The Dow closed up 0.3 percent, or 97 points, at 34,230, after a record high at 34,331. For the year, the index was up almost 12 percent.
"The Dow Jones (is) catching some cyclical rotation and keeping its head above water" despite a flat-to-weaker performance of the broader US stock market, said Jeffrey Halley, analyst at online stocks trading platform OANDA.
The Dow's record performance came after data on Wednesday showed the US private sector added 742,000 jobs in April, its most in seven months, as the economy continued to recover rapidly from the ravages of the COVID-19.
Data also showed the United States has administered 248 million COVID shots to date, with 106 million Americans or 32.3 percent of the population being fully immunized from the virus.
The S&P 500 index, which groups the top 500 stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, rose less than 3 points, or 0.1 percent, to settle at 4,168.
Tech stocks, measured by the Nasdaq Composite index, fell for a fourth day in a row as investors rotated out of the so-called growth stocks into "value stocks" that included industrial and leisure names.
The Nasdaq, which includes Big Tech Names such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, microsoft and Google, lost 51 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 13,582 on Wednesday. It has lost 500 points, or 3.6 percent, over the past four days.
