Nearly 103 years after its creation by Dow Jones & Co. co-founder Charles Dow, on March 29, 1999 the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) surged 184.54 points or 1.88% to close at 10006.78. The industrials topped 10000 at 2:29 p.m. EST, fell back four minutes later, and then, after vacillating above and below the level, finally moved above it just before 3:15 p.m. and stayed there. The day's high was 10040.36. At the end of Big Board trading, 25 of the 30 industrials were up. In the end, it was a broad range of large stocks that helped the overall market gain, consisting of technology, oil, retailing and banking stocks.
The historic close also was helped along by a little quirk, Coca-Cola, a Dow-Industrial component, finished Big Board primary trading up 1 7/8. But after the 4 p.m. end of Big Board primary trading, on which the industrial average is calculated, Coke said first-quarter case sales would decline from a year ago. Coke then fell 2 3/8 and finished down 1/2 at 64 13/16 in composite trading, which reflects trading on other exchanges after the Big Board close. That swing translates to a drop of more than 10 points in the overall industrial average. So, if the news had come out during Big Board trading, it would have kept the industrials below 10000.
Chronology of The Dow's Road to 10000 |
|
| May 26, 1896 | Index is launched by Charles Dow at 40.94 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average then had only 12 stocks, not 30. |
| October 28-29, 1929 | Stock market crashes at 12.82% and 11.73% back to back (38.33 and 30.57 points), and ushers in the Great Depression. |
| February 8, 1971 | NASDAQ Stock Market is born. |
| November 14, 1972 | Dow's first close above 1000, called Wall Street's equivalent of breaking the sound barrier. |
| August 12, 1982 | Birth of the long-term bull market as viewed by some analysts. |
| October 19, 1987 | Black Monday crash of record at 22.61% or 508 points. |
| October 11, 1990 | Commonly recognized start of current bull market. |
| November 21, 1995 | DJIA has first-ever close above 5000 nine months after hitting 4000. |
| May 1996 | Centennial of Dow Jones Industrial Average is celebrated. |
| December 5, 1996 | Greenspan warns of "irrational exuberance" in markets. |
| October 27-28, 1997 | Biggest-ever point loss at 554.26 (but only 7.18%) followed by then-biggest point gain; 337.17 (4.71%) |
| September 8, 1998 | Biggest-ever point gain at 380.53, or 4.98%, after seven weeks of declines on global economic turmoil. |
| March 29, 1999 | Dow Jones Industrial Average jumps 184.54, or 1.88% to 10006.78 primarily behind tech-stock rally. |
Source: The Wall Street Journal , March 30, 1999