Dow Tops 18,000 Amid Weekly Gains as GDP Data Bolster Small Caps
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U.S. stocks broke through milestones in a holiday-shortened week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossing 18,000, small-caps reaching a record and the Nasdaq Composite Index surging to a 14-year high amid optimism in the strength of the world’s largest economy.
The fastest expansion for the American economy in more than a decade helped equities build on a year-end rally that drove the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its 52nd record close in 2014. The benchmark gauge advanced 0.9 percent to 2,088.77 over the week and the Dow climbed 248.91 points, or 1.4 percent, to 18,053.71. Both measures posted their ninth weekly increase in 10, the longest stretch since at least March 2013.