The daily business briefing: January 18, 2018

The Dow closes above 26,000 in a historic first, Apple decides to use a new tax break to repatriate billions, and more

Traders sport Dow 26,000 hats
(Image credit: BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images)

1. Dow closes above 26,000 for first time

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by 323 points or 1.3 percent on Wednesday to close above 26,000, marking a historic first for the blue-chip index. The Dow pierced the 26,000-point threshold for the first time on Tuesday before giving back its gains and closing just below it. The other major equity indexes, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, also closed at record highs. The Dow's gains were spurred by quarterly results from some of the biggest U.S. companies that exceeded Wall Street's expectations. "You've got a bullish start to the earnings season and earnings are expected to be strong for 2018," said Adam Sarhan, CEO of 50 Park Investments. U.S. stock futures were flat early Thursday.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.