Dow breaks through 20,000 in New York for first time

Blue-chip index reaches record high on buoyant earnings and optimism on growth

Traders celebrate on the main trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the Dow Jones Industrial Average passes the 20,000 mark shortly after the opening of the trading session. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Corporate earnings are offering relief after traders began to unwind a rally in the dollar and equities amid concern that post-US election gains had gone too far.

"The rally shows that markets have a degree of resilience" to political risks including elections in France and Germany and Britain's departure from the European Union, said Andrzej Pioch, a fund manager with Legal & General Investment Management in London. "Attention is turning to data and away from politics."

On this side of the Atlantic, the Iseq was up 1.2 per cent in mid-afternoon trading, while the FTSE 100 added 0.5 per cent and the pan-European Stoxx 600 index advanced by 1.2 per cent. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg)

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan is Markets Correspondent of The Irish Times