May 22 (Reuters) – The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an intraday record high on Friday, its first since the U.S.-Iran war began, as AI-driven trade and market optimism over negotiations to end the war lifted risk appetite.
The blue-chip index hit an intraday record high of 50,712.24 points and was last up 0.6%, surpassing its previous record high of 50,512.79 from February 10 after crossing 50,000 points earlier this week.
The index had confirmed a correction in March, closing 10% below record highs, as worries about the global economic impact of the war in Iran fueled a broader Wall Street sell-off.
“The more we inch towards that off-ramp in this war, the more the market gains confidence, especially on the heels of the end of a terrific earnings reporting season and guidance moving up for the whole year,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.
Artificial intelligence-driven moves and a Middle East ceasefire aided market recovery from March lows, with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hitting record highs in mid-April. The industrials-heavy Dow lagged behind, however, as technology shares drove markets.
The blue-chip index that houses 30 stocks and was first constituted in 1896 is price weighted, unlike its peers, making it less exposed to the tech-driven rally.
On the Dow, tech names Cisco, Amazon and Nvidia have outperformed over the quarter. The chip giant’s sales outlook topped estimates this week.
Laggards over the same time period include Chevron, McDonalds and Nike.
Robust first-quarter earnings have outweighed geopolitical uncertainties with analysts’ estimates for the next 12-month U.S. earnings rising by over 10% since the start of the year, according to LSEG Datastream.
(Reporting by Twesha Dikshit, Johann M Cherian and Utkarsh Tushar Hathi in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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