The close was just shy of a previous record close of 40,003 set on May 17. Uncertainty had been hanging over the markets because of the unprecedented refusal of the outgoing president, Donald Trump, to concede the election to President-elect Biden. When Trump began the transition process late in November, 2020, stocks roared back. The following are some milestones achieved by the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Economic & Market Factors Behind the 2024–2025 Dow Highs
By the end of 2023, the previous high, registered in January 2022, had been surpassed, and the 37,000 mark had been breached. While short-term pullbacks are always possible, history shows the Dow has reached new highs after every major correction. With inflation cooling and the Fed signaling possible rate cuts, analysts expect more record-setting moves through late 2025. For active traders, record-breaking markets are full of opportunity. At MasterFunders, you can trade with firm capital instead of your own, scale accounts up to $1M+, and get payouts in as little as 7 days. The Dow’s new high above 45,600 in August 2025 is impressive, but it’s part of a bigger global rally.
📊 The Dow 30 Companies – August 2025 Snapshot
This was less than the 90% drop during the Great Depression. It took almost four years for the market to bottom out at that time. The Dow was volatile in 2015 because it was based on just a few companies. Record-low interest rates allowed firms such as Apple and IBM to borrow billions to buy back shares.
The S&P 500, Nasdaq, Nikkei, and DAX all set records in 2025 too, fueled by strong tech earnings and hopes of lower rates. By mid-2025, the S&P 500 reached Best forex trading platform 5,680, and the Nasdaq hit 19,810—driven mainly by tech stocks. Intraday highs show the peak value during the trading session, but the “record close” at 45,631.74 on August 22 is the official all-time high most investors track. The 2008 stock market crash was more dramatic than any other downturn in U.S. history.
Record Highs Set in 2020
The highest high and lowest low for the selected period are also bolded for easy identification. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rebounded 1.1% and 1.3% on Friday, respectively, after both indexes posted their worst trading days since late April. See the top 10 highest closing values in Dow Jones history, including the record-breaking 45,014.04 set on December 4, 2024. When people talk about “the Dow,” they mean the Dow Jones Industrial Average—a group of top blue-chip stocks like Apple, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola, all traded on big U.S. exchanges like the NYSE. The DJIA shows how America’s biggest companies are performing and is a quick way to check the pulse of the economy. Different indices reflect different trading styles, short-term Nasdaq rallies mirror day trading vs swing trading strategies in practice.
Dow 30 Companies (with Sector & Stock Price Example*)
- Share repurchases among the S&P 500 companies were 59% higher in the first quarter of 2014 than the first quarter in 2013.
- The highest Dow Jones Industrial Average close is 45,631.74, set on August 22, 2025.
- By mid-2025, the S&P 500 reached 5,680, and the Nasdaq hit 19,810—driven mainly by tech stocks.
- Many records were set in 2019, thanks partly to trade talks with China that boosted firms in the index.
- Confidence that a recession could be averted continued into 2024.
The Senate reintroduced the bailout as the Troubled Asset Relief Program on Oct. 3. The Dow gained 3,472.56 points during 2013, higher than any prior year on record. For each period, the « Percent From Last » column shows you where the current price is in relationship to the Low price for that period. When positive, the current price is that much higher than the lowest price from that period.
How does the Dow compare to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in 2025?
The new highs reflected optimism that the Federal Reserve would continue to cut interest rates and that the incoming administration would promote business growth. Because of the price-weighted calculation method, a $1 change in the price of a stock in the DJIA doesn’t equate to one point in the index since that depends on the Dow divisor at the time. As such, point moves are a way to measure the relative change in the index’s value. That said, when comparing the value of the DJIA over time, many financial sites, as we have done above, use an inflation-adjustment calculator such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor’s CPI since this gives the relative change over time. While you can’t directly buy shares in the market index, you can invest in the DJIA through index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA).
- The downturn reflected a 10-month recession, from July 1953 to May 1954, during the military demobilization following the Korean War.
- Given its large-cap focus, the roster of companies included in the Dow fails to include companies of other sizes.
- While you can’t directly buy shares in the market index, you can invest in the DJIA through index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA).
- The index had three nine-day runs, last occurring in 1955 (when there were four nine-day stretches).
- To account for stock splits and changes in the lineup, the Dow uses a special number called the index divisor.
- While short-term pullbacks are always possible, history shows the Dow has reached new highs after every major correction.
Both of those factors sent inflation in the U.S. soaring to record levels not seen in over 40 years. The one before that came on the final trading day of 2021, when Dow closed at 36,488.63 on Dec. 29, 2021, smashing the record it set on Nov. 8, 2021. The Dow witnessed a sharp decline in the end of November over fears of inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic, before resuming its quest to break more all-time high milestones. This was the Dow’s third consecutive trading day with a record close and the fourth record closing in just two months. The previous high was recorded just a day prior, when the index ended the trading day at 36,585.06.
Record highs usually follow strong earnings, low interest rates, tech rallies, and economic growth. Central bank policy and investor optimism also play big roles. On that day, it closed at 7,286.27, a 37.8% decline from its peak. No one knew if a new bull market had begun until the Dow hit a higher low on March 11, 2003, closing at 7,524.06. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is one of the many gauges of stock market performance. This history of the Dow since the Great Depression demonstrates how stock market fluctuations reflect the natural stages of the business cycle.
Record highs are driven by a mix of economic growth, lower inflation, strong corporate earnings, and investor confidence. Fed policy plays a major role, lower interest rates often push the Dow higher. Active traders can also benefit by using prop firm funding to trade market momentum. The Dow hit record highs in 2024–2025 thanks to a perfect storm of strong earnings, lower inflation, and huge gains from mega-cap tech stocks. Through much of 2022 and 2023, investors were cautious and bearish about equity markets as inflation rocketed. Then, in the last few months of 2023, investors began piling back in as hopes grew that interest rates would soon be cut and a nasty recession averted.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) just set a new record close of 45,631.74 on August 22, 2025. This beat the previous high of 45,014.04 from December 2024. The easiest way to invest in the Dow may be to buy shares in State Street Global Advisors’ SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust, which trades under the ticker symbol DIA. This widget shows the number of times this symbol reached a new low price for specific periods, from the past 5-Days to the past 20-Years. This widget shows the number of times this symbol reached a new high price for specific periods, from the past 5-Days to the past 20-Years.
Confidence that a recession could be averted continued into 2024. The Dow climbed above 38,000 in January 2024 and reached 40,000 by May. The index peaked again in July, almost reaching 42,000, then rallied in September when the Fed started cutting interest rates for the first time since 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, also known as the Dow or DJIA, tracks 30 large, well-known companies that trade on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.
