What Is the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA All-Time High?
The Dow Jones industrial average finished above 40,000 for the first time on Friday afternoon, doubling where the index hit shortly after Donald Trump became the 45th president. 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. Shares for most of the firms tracked by Dow rose in value on Friday, led by Intel (4.7%), IBM (2.8%) and Home Depot (2.6%), while shares for Walmart, Boeing and JPMorgan Chase fell slightly.
📊 Table: DJIA vs. S&P 500 vs. Nasdaq – 2025 YTD Returns (as of Aug
These actions artificially raised their earnings per share and the prices of their remaining outstanding stocks (stocks which are still held by shareholders). The Dow Jones Industrial Average is one of the cmc markets review 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. 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 Dow Jones stock market index (also known as the Dow or DIJA) tracks 30 large, blue-chip companies on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.
Dow 1250 to 2500: 1,394 days
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- 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.
- On that day, it closed at 7,286.27, a 37.8% decline from its peak.
- The Dow kept hitting record highs in late 2024, reaching over 45,000 in December of that year.
- Since the Dow tracks just 30 large-cap U.S. companies, some critics argue that it is too narrow to represent the state of the overall U.S. economy.
- A record high doesn’t mean “buy now” or “panic sell”—it’s just one milestone in the market’s long journey.
A Brief History of the Dow
The Dow continuously moved higher eight months in a row (the last occurrence of this was in 1995). In 2019, the Dow hit two milestones and set 22 record closes. On July 3, the Dow hit a new high when the Trump administration announced it would resume trade negotiations with China, averting additional tariffs (taxes on imports).
Record Highs Set in 2015
Nvidia has recorded the biggest daily jump in market value in the history of Wall Street. The California-based chip maker on Wednesday added $330bn to its market capitalisation – blasting past the previous record it set in February with a $277bn single-day gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) hit its record high on May 16, 2024, reaching 40,051.05 points during intraday trading. The Dow’s all-time high at market close stands at 39,908.00, reached on May 15, 2024. The Dow’s most volatile period in recent history took place during the Great Recession of 2007–2008.
Since the Dow tracks just 30 large-cap U.S. companies, some critics argue that it is too narrow to represent the state of the overall U.S. economy. Given its large-cap focus, the roster of companies included in the Dow fails to include companies of other sizes. Many market observers think the S&P 500 is a much better representation of the economy, as it includes 500 companies and draws more widely from different sectors. These changes are not done often to ensure the index’s stability and continuity. Previously, the Dow had fallen from 11,723 in January 2000 to 9,389 in March 2001, dropping 20% (from 20,520 to 16,434 points, inflation-adjusted).
The chart below shows four of those closing records, as they increase by the thousand. That correction was more than 16% lower than its all-time high set in May of the same year, putting the index into a correction but not a bear market. Investors worried that China’s yuan devaluation and the uncertainty over the Fed’s rate increase would push the index further downward.
Although the market’s 50% drop is less than the Great Depression’s 90% drop, it takes only 17 months to reach that low, compared to a period of four years in the 1930s. The Dow falls 13% in October 2008 and hits a new low for the year of 7,552.29 in November 2008. It reaches its lowest point of 6,594.44 on March 5, 2009 during a bear market. In recent years, investors have become accustomed to record highs for the Dow, but there have also been a few pronounced drops. That said, we’ve never seen a fall as dramatic as the stock market crash of 1929, after which the Dow lost nearly 90% of its value over the course of three years.
- Its peaks and valleys shed light on the workings — and volatility — of the global economy.
- Although the market’s 50% drop is less than the Great Depression’s 90% drop, it takes only 17 months to reach that low, compared to a period of four years in the 1930s.
- The Dow falls 13% in October 2008 and hits a new low for the year of 7,552.29 in November 2008.
- Central bank policy and investor optimism also play big roles.
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Timeline of Key Milestones
In 2020, the Dow set a record high of 28,868.80 on Jan. 2 and another record a week later. After experiencing three of the biggest drops in history during the spring of 2020, it broke 30,000 on Nov. 24 and ended the year at a record high of 30,606.48. Take a look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the course of its history and you also have a reliable history of the U.S. stock market.
Recession of 1953
The Dow suffered a market correction between August 2015 and April 19, 2016, leading to a 2016 downturn. It began on Jan. 4, when the Dow closed 160 points lower as investors worried about a slowdown in China’s economic growth. The index had three nine-day runs, last occurring in 1955 (when there were four nine-day stretches).
Major Market Corrections and Recoveries
It hit a milestone on July 11, closing above 27,000, and then another on Nov. 15, closing above 28,000 (in the chart below, milestones are noted). The close was just shy of a previous record close of 40,003 set on May 17. That means companies with higher stock prices move the Dow more, even if they aren’t the largest by market value.
After the Dow Jones Transportation Index, it is the second oldest U.S. stock market index still in use. We’ve included a few key shocks to the stock markets along these timelines in addition to the presidents who were in office. Admittedly the steady hands of the Federal Reserve chairs during those eras likely had greater sway over the success of the markets than whoever was in the White House.
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