The Wall Street Journal
The Nasdaq Composite
climbed above the 5000-point level for the first
time in almost 15 years, another milestone in the revival of an index
that once was synonymous with dot-com excess but now reflects a broad
swath of global technology, consumer, health-care and financial firms.
The
Nasdaq Composite, which tracks the prices of the 2,569 companies on the
Nasdaq Stock Market, rose 44.57 points, or 0.9%, to 5008.10.
The
Nasdaq spent Monday morning creeping higher, crossing 5000 just after
10:30 a.m. EST, marking the first time the index has traded at that
level since March 27, 2000. It spent the rest of the session drifting
backward, until a rally during the last hour of trading propelled it to
close above 5000.
The finish above 5000 was noteworthy in that it is rare for major
indexes to settle above a new “millennium” marker on the first attempt.
Instead, they typically test those levels during the trading day before
closing above them a few days later.
Even in the heady days of March
2000, the Nasdaq bounced around 5000 for a few days before finally
closing above it.
The rebound of the Nasdaq underscores the renewed ascendancy of U.S.
financial markets following the dot-com crash of 2000 and the financial
crisis of 2008. While the Nasdaq is yet to reach its closing record of
5048.62. set in 2000, the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 index each
have set several dozen new highs over the past few years, driven by a
growing U.S. economy, healthy corporate profits and exceptionally low
interest rates in the U.S.
The Nasdaq’s march back up to 5000 has been slow but steady, driven by
growth in earnings and dividend payments of its companies. Although the
index’s rise is nowhere near as rapid as it was in 2000, its gains are
viewed as likely less ephemeral and bearing less risk for shareholders.
Nasdaq companies collectively fetched 189.75 times their earnings over
the previous year in March 2000, according to Nasdaq—versus 31.96 today.
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