Dow Jones hits all time high as investors embrace Donald Trump presidency

NEW YORK (Diya TV) – U.S. equities closed mixed on Thursday as investors continued to reposition their portfolios in anticipation of president-elect Donald Trump’s arrival to Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Dow Jones Industrial average hit a new all-time intraday of 18,873.6, and closed more than 200 points higher, with IBM and Goldman Sachs contributing the most gains to the tune of 34 points and 52 points, respectively.

“Equities are adjusting to change and uncertainty with a Trump presidency,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “There still needs to be more clarity and that’s going to impact equity prices.”

However, the NASDAQ composite underperformed. Traction gained during a healthy morning session of trading was erased after it fell 2 percent as the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) pared initial gains while the so-called FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet) fell. The index closed around 0.8 percent lower.

“These are expensive stocks that don’t like higher interest rates. These have been the leaders and the leaders are getting whacked,” said Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group. He said that FANG stocks “don’t like higher interest rates because higher interest rates exposes things that are overvalued.”

The S&P 500 bounced back and forth between gains and losses, closing about 0.2 percent higher, with financials rising 3.7 percent to lead advancers. Bank stocks rose, with the SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) holding about 4 percent higher after hitting its highest level since September 2008.

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Donald Trump’s victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton had initially sent shockwaves through global markets, with Dow futures falling more than 800 points as election results kept coming in. But Wednesday’s cash session saw a 1 percent rally, as investors and traders unwound several trades associated with a Clinton victory, particularly within the financials and health care sectors.

Additionally, investors have been on the lookout for any updates on who Trump might fill his cabinet positions with – Thursday, according to a report from CNBC, the Trump camp has been floating the name of Jamie Dimon as Treasury secretary.

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency’s performance against a basket of currencies, rose 0.31 percent Thursday, with the euro near $1.089 percent. The safe-haven yen fell more than 1 percent versus the greenback, trading around 106.80.