The daily business briefing: January 7, 2021

The Dow surges to a record high dispute Capitol attack, Twitter and Facebook temporarily lock Trump's accounts, and more

Trump mob at the Capitol.
(Image credit: ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

1. Dow jumps to record high despite Capitol attack

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to a record high on Wednesday despite widespread concerns over the stability of the country after pro-Trump rioters broke into the Capitol in a bid to disrupt the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's election victory. The Dow gave back some of its earlier gains but still closed up by 1.4 percent, boosted partly by anticipation of a major increase in government spending to stimulate the coronavirus-ravaged economy now that Democrats have won control of the Senate by sweeping Georgia's two Senate runoffs. The S&P 500 also closed higher, rising by 0.6 percent after retreating a bit from an intraday record high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell by 0.6 percent as investors sold off big tech stocks. U.S. stock index futures rose early Thursday after Congress certified Biden's win.

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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.