Russell 2000 sets the first intraday high since March

A quadruple record close for the major indices. In addition to the Dow S&P and NASDAQ posting a record closes, the Russell 2000 index also joined the party with its own new all-time high.

  • NASDAQ recorded its fourth straight record close
  • Dow industrial average closed at a record level for its third consecutive day.
  • NASDAQ closed at a record level for the 40th time
  • Dow industrial average closed at a record level for the 41th time
  • S&P index closed at a record level for the 61st time
  • NASDAQ is up for the seventh straight day
  • Winning sectors included Materials rose 1.1% real estate rose 0.94%, technology rose 0.82% and consumer staples rose 0.69%
  • Losing sectors included energy which fell -1.01%, discretionary fell -0.62%

The gains come despite the expectations at the Federal Reserve will start to taper process when they announce their decision tomorrow at 2 PM ET. The expectations are for $15 billion. That would put the Fed on schedule for finishing the taper by midyear 2022. There is a possibility that they speed up the taper process could be a problem for the stock market if that should happen.

The final numbers are showing:

  • Dow industrial average +138.79 points or 0.39% at 36052.63
  • S&P index rose 17.04 points or 0.37% at 4630.71
  • NASDAQ index rose 53.69 points or 0.34% at 15649.60
  • the Russell 2000 rose 3.74 points or 0.16% at 2361.86