Investors reacted positively as President Joe Biden was sworn into office on Wednesday (January 20), sending stocks to record highs. In early afternoon trading, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq were up by more than 200 points. The S&P 500 was up by almost 50 points.
That was enough to set a new record for the Nasdaq and the S&P 500. The Dow Jones remained about 100 points below its all-time high.
The Nasdaq was buoyed by Netflix, which was up more than 17% after announcing it added 8.5 million subscribers in the final three months of the year.
Investors are betting that the orderly transition of power, coupled with the continued distributions of COVID-19 vaccines, and President Biden's plan to provide an additional $1,400 in relief to Americans, will help boost the economy in 2021.
"I believe we will be able to turn the page," Kristina Hooper, Invesco's chief global market strategist, told CNBC. "I expect markets to continue to move in expectations of a robust recovery later in 2021 when vaccines are broadly distributed."
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