It ended at 50,115.67, an increase of more than 1,200 points, or 2.5 percent.The 50,000 limit is “a nice big number,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. “What it really reflects is a market that is broadening and joining the growth story.”
The milestone in New York came on a mixed day for global stocks, as bitcoin and precious metals both posted significant gains, extending a period of volatility in the markets.
US stocks have been under pressure this week, with the Nasdaq falling over the last three sessions after big declines in software stocks and some tech giants linked to the AI push.
On Friday, Amazon was the biggest loser on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, down 5.6 percent after announcing it plans $200 billion in capital expenditures by 2026 to build AI capabilities. While investors remain concerned that Amazon and other AI “hyperscalers” may not see sufficient returns on massive investments, their plans will strengthen infrastructure, banking and other sectors.
Caterpillar, 3M, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Amgen and Nvidia all rose at least four percent on Friday.
The AI plans mean that “huge amounts of money will be deployed and filtered out to other companies,” O’Hare said.
Gina Bolvin, of Bolvin Wealth Management, said Friday’s earnings showed “real confidence” in terms of the outlook for earnings growth.
“Equity investors will likely be rewarded, but the path will not be smooth,” Bovin said in a note.
“Volatility should be expected. For investors, this is a reminder to stay intentional: lean on quality companies with strong earnings power and be prepared for more rotation, not linear gains.”
Previous milestones for the Dow Jones include reaching 40,000 points in May 2024 and 30,000 points in November 2020.
The index has risen fairly steadily for most of the past two and a half years, with the exception of the period around Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff proposals of April 2025, which the president later backtracked on.
“CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA,” Trump said in a social media post celebrating Friday’s benchmark.
Elsewhere, both gold and silver recovered after a sharp drop on Thursday, joining bitcoin, which climbed back above $70,000 after falling to around $60,000 the day before.
After Thursday’s steep losses, European markets were all higher, while Asian markets were mixed.
In company news, shares of Jeep maker Stellantis fell more than 24 percent in Paris after it warned of a 22 billion euro writedown due to a misjudgment of the shift in demand to electric vehicles.
Stellantis shares are now down about 80 percent in the past two years.
Meanwhile, shares of British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto ended flat in Sydney after it halted merger talks with Swiss resources company Glencore.
The deal would have created the world’s largest mining company, worth about $260 billion.
Rio Tinto’s London-listed shares were up 0.3 percent on Friday, while Glencore rose 1.5 percent, recovering some of the previous day’s losses.
Toyota rose two percent in Tokyo after raising profit and sales forecasts for the current fiscal year despite the impact of U.S. tariffs.
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