The Dow Reaches 1,000 On This Day In Market History
Benzinga takes a look back at a notable market-related moment that occurred on this date.
What Happened
On this day in 1972, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 1,000 for the first time.
Where The Market Was
The Dow closed at 1,003.16 and the S&P 500 traded at 114.95. Today, the Dow is trading at 33,747 and the S&P 500 is trading at 3,992.
What Else Was Going On In The World
In 1972, 11 athletes from Israel were murdered by a terrorist gunman at the Munich Olympics. Five White House operatives were arrested for breaking into the offices of the Democratic National Committee as part of a scandal that would become known as Watergate.
The average American salary was $11,800.
Quadruple-Digit Dow
Seventy-six years after its creation, the Dow finally hit the 1,000 mark on Nov. 14, 1972.
The Dow was first published back in 1896 and included just 12 stocks. The initial price of the index was 40.94. None of the 12 original Dow stocks remain in the index today.
The Dow expanded to 30 stocks in 1928 and peaked at 381.17 in September 1929, its pre-Depression high. By July 1932, the index was trading at just 41.63, down more than 90% in a three-year stretch.
In 1954, 25 years after the 1929 crash, the Dow closed above 400 for the first time. After surpassing 1,000 in 1972, the Dow hit 2,000 15 years later in 1987, 10,000 12 years after than in 1999 and 25,000 another 19 years later in January 2018.
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