Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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NEW YORK (Jan 25): After a brief lull, Wall Street resumed its rally this week, moving into stocks expected to benefit from US President Donald's Trump expected policy measures, and on Wednesday put the Dow Jones Industrial Average on track to close above the historic 20,000 level for the first time.

The index is up about 1.5% for the month, on track for its third straight monthly advance and best three-month run since early 2013.

Below is a list of facts about the index on its climb to the historic level:

** The average was created by Charles Dow and launched in 1896. It was designed to cover all industries, with the exception of transportation and utilities.

** At its inception, the Dow consisted of only 12 "smokestack" companies — suppliers of consumer goods and basic materials such as American Sugar and National Lead. It expanded to 20 components on Oct 4, 1916. Since Oct 1, 1928, it has comprised 30 US "blue-chip" companies.

** General Electric Co is the only current component that was one of the original 12 in the index. The industrial conglomerate was removed twice, in 1898 and 1901, but returned to the index each time in subsequent changes.

** Apple Inc was the most recent addition to the index, replacing AT&T Inc on March 19, 2015.

** The most expensive stock currently in the price-weighted index is Goldman Sachs Group Inc, which recently traded at US$235.21. GE, at US$30.30, is the cheapest.

** Apple is the largest company in the index, with a market capitalization of more than US$638 billion. Travelers Cos Inc is the smallest, at about US$33 billion.

** The biggest daily point gain for the index was Oct 13, 2008 — less than a month after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection — when the Dow rose 936.42 points. The biggest one-day percentage gain was 15.34% on March 15, 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression.

** The biggest point decline for the index was a drop of 777.68 on Sept 29, 2008. On a percentage basis, the worst day for the Dow was Oct 19, 1987, also known as "Black Monday," when it fell 22.61%.

** The average daily return for the index through March 31, 2016, was a gain of 0.02537%, with an average up day of 0.71% and an average down day of 0.74%.

** July is the best-performing month for the Dow, with an average gain of 1.3192% as of March 31, 2016. September is the worst-performing month, with an average decline of 1.0586%.

** Saturday is the best-performing day of the week for the index, with an average gain of 0.0683%. From 1887 to 1952, shares on the New York Stock Exchange were traded from 10am until noon. Monday is the worst day of the week for the Dow, with an average decline of 0.0862%.

** The best-performing calendar year has been 1915, with a gain of 81.66%, while the worst-performing year was 1931, with a 52.67% decline. There have been 78 up years and 43 down years.

** It has taken only 42 market sessions for the index to climb the next 1,000 points from the first close above 19,000, the second-fastest rise between 1,000-point milestones in the Dow's 120-year history. The quickest pace was the 24 trading days between 10,000 and 11,000 in 1999. The longest stretch between such milestones was the 3,630 days needed for the index to close above the 2,000 barrier on Jan 8, 1987.

** Since the index closed above the 19,000 mark, Goldman Sachs has contributed the most points to the index, with roughly 167. Wal-Mart Stores Inc has been the biggest drag, subtracting about 19 points.

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