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Dow Jones sets mark, tops 24,000
Stock market reaches new high as economy improves, tax reform moves closer
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This 2016 file photo shows the New York Stock Exchange. U.S. stocks topped 24,000 Thursday as technology companies rebounded after a steep sell-off a day earlier. - photo by Associated Press
Investors are exuberant and for good reason: the global economy is strong, corporate earnings are solid, Washington appears closer to delivering lower taxes on corporations and is signaling less restrictive oversight of the financial sector.Thanks to that enthusiasm, Wall Street finished November with a broad rally that gave the Dow Jones industrial average its biggest gain since March and pushed it past the 24,000 mark for the first time.Other market indicators also reached milestones on Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index, which is widely followed by professional investors, had its biggest monthly gain since February.Technology stocks, the biggest driver of the market's increase this year, were responsible for much of the gain, rebounding from a sharp pullback the day before. Financial stocks slowed a bit, but remain in the midst of a weeklong rally sparked by rising interest rates and encouraging words from regulators.Investors were encouraged by the latest batch of economic data pointing to a pickup in global and domestic demand.
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