The Dow Jones Closes Over 14,000 For First Time Since 2007

The Dow Jones closed over 14,000 points for the first time since 2007. The January jobs report, which noted that 157,000 jobs were added last month, served to help the market reach a huge milestone.

Traders on the New York Stock Exchange floor cheered as the Dow closed out at 14,009.79, up 149.21 points from when it opened Friday morning.

The closing number is just 150 points from the Dow Jones’ all-time closing high, which was set on October 9, 2007, reports USA Today. The record was set before the financial meltdown and the resulting recession pushed the stock market much lower.

The Nasdaq composite and the Standard & Poor’s 500 also closed up, appearing to ride the wave of success seen by the Dow. All three indexes saw their largest gain since January 2.

The Dow Jones industrial hit the 14,000 mark several times on Friday morning. It also gained steam in afternoon trading. NPR notes that Darrell Cronk, the regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank, stated:

“The primary driver is not the 157,000 new jobs [created in January], but the positive revisions to the months of November and December.”

Economists initially expected about 160,000 jobs to be created in January. While the 157,000 jobs didn’t hit the mark, the jobs report was still enough to help the Dow Jones to an impressive high.

Major stocks in Britain, France, and Germany also ended the week higher because of investor reaction to the January jobs report. Elsewhere, Asian stock markets were reduced.

Do you see more confidence in the American economy now that the Dow Jones has closed over 14,000 for the first time in five years?

[Image via ShutterStock]