The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke records on Thursday morning by surging past 27,000 for the first time ever, rising 132 points during morning trading.
The surge comes after the S&P 500 crossed the 3,000 threshold for the first time and the Nasdaq Composite reached an all-time high.
Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that businesses have “notably” slowed investments due to their uncertainties about the long-term economic future in his testimony to the House Financial Services Committee advocating for an easier domestic monetary policy for businesses.
“Crosscurrents have reemerged,” Powell testified. “Many FOMC participants saw that the case for a somewhat more accommodative monetary policy had strengthened. Since then, based on incoming data and other developments, it appears that uncertainties around trade tensions and concerns about the strength of the global economy continue to weigh on the U.S. economic outlook.”
However, some say that Powell has only pointed to economic trends abroad to support his claims for a weakening economy.
“I think it’s safe to say Powell has his dove hat on and a quarter [rate] cut is coming,” Mike Loewengart, vice president of investment strategy at E-Trade, told CNBC News. “What’s interesting though is how quickly Powell pointed abroad to support the case for a weakening economy. Because the reality is things are still pretty strong here at home — last week’s jobs numbers made that clear.”
