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NEW YORK CITY — The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged above 50,000 points for the first time on Friday, a historic moment for the blue-chip index, which was up more than 2% in afternoon trading.
The index was last at 50,052.
Shares of Nvidia, up more than 8% after recent losses, were giving the Dow a boost, along with Caterpillar, also up more than 7%.
The stock market is bouncing on Friday after a selloff this week tied to worries about artificial intelligence, with several software industry companies hit especially hard amid concerns that AI could create more competition.
The blue-chip index is up about 4% for the year so far and has outperformed the other major indexes on Wall Street.
Caterpillar, among the biggest weights in the Dow, is up more than 26% for the year and has helped to drive the Dow's recent gains, while Nvidia is down 0.5% so far in 2026.
Expectations for lower borrowing costs and fiscal stimulus from the One Big Beautiful Act have helped cyclical names including industrial bellwether Caterpillar, which rose more than 50% in 2025.
Also helping the Dow Friday were shares of Goldman Sachs, up more than 4%.
The Dow's 30 components are weighted in the index by their share prices, unlike S&P 500 stocks that are weighted by their market value.
Hopes that the Federal Reserve would be able to tame inflation without damaging the economy had helped the blue-chip index close above 40,000 points in May 2024 and the journey since then has widened the gap between the index's best and worst performing stocks.
Contributing: Caroline Valetkevitch, Noel Randewich and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru
