The highest closing value ever for the Dow is 45,631.74, set on August 22, 2025. Previously, the Dow had fallen from 11,723 in January 2000 to 9,389 in March 2001, dropping 20% (from 20,520 to 16,434 points, inflation-adjusted). The bout of inflation that followed the COVID-19 pandemic led to another sharp sell-off in 2022. Between Jan. 7, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2022, the Dow declined about 21% from 36,231.66 to 28,725.51. Perhaps the most infamous trough was during the Great Depression, in which the Dow lost about 90% of its value over three years.

The DJIA is a price-weighted stock index made up of 30 major U.S. companies. It’s one of the most-watched indicators of the stock market’s overall health. The Dow’s activity broke new records in terms of downward movement in 2009. While it wasn’t as dramatic as the Great Depression, the drop happened much more quickly. After recovering from its Great Depression level, the Dow continued to be affected by several recessionary periods and crises leading up to the 2009 downturn. That correction was more than 16% lower than its all-time high set in May of the same year, putting the index into a correction but not a bear market.

• That is the second-fastest rise in U.S. history (currently, the record is 24 sessions to go from 10,000 to 21,000 in 1999).
• The bout of inflation that followed the COVID-19 pandemic led to another sharp sell-off in 2022.
• The previous day, May 15, 2024, the index had closed at 39,908 points, marking its highest closing value at that time.

The S&P 500, Nasdaq, Nikkei, and DAX all set records in 2025 too, fueled by strong tech earnings and hopes of lower rates. But the historic peak was delayed by strong economic news, an upturn in March inflation data and statements from Fed officials suggesting interest-rate cuts wouldn’t be coming soon. On that day, it closed plus500 review at 7,286.27, a 37.8% decline from its peak. No one knew if a new bull market had begun until the Dow hit a higher low on March 11, 2003, closing at 7,524.06.

Factors Driving the Dow’s Growth

The highest the Dow has ever been, as of current year, stands at highest value. This milestone represents a significant achievement for the stock market and the overall economy. Conversely, an encouraging drop in inflation reported earlier this week helped to fuel this latest rally. Consumer prices rose 3.4% from last April – a decline from March’s 3.5% annual increase. The CME FedWatch Tool shows investors still expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates twice by the end of the year.

By Jan. 20, it closed at 15,766.74, as investors panicked over plummeting oil prices, the devaluation of the yuan, and turmoil in China’s stock market. But this robust start was not indicative of extreme volatility the index would face as the year progressed. First, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine saw gas prices spike sharply. At the same time, the strength in the U.S. labor market meant extremely competitive wages driving consumer demand.

📊 Top 5 Dow Jones Record Closes (Nov 2024 – Aug

A record high doesn’t mean the market will only go up or that it’s time to panic. These funds track the DJIA through a similar composition and weighting of stocks. The Dow tracks 30 large, publicly owned blue-chip companies trading on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. The selection is not based on strict quantitative criteria but rather on the decisions of the editors of the Wall Street Journal. Companies are chosen based on their reputation, growth, and relevance to the economy, with the aim of reflecting the overall health and trends of the industrial sector of the U.S. economy. Confidence that a recession could be averted continued into 2024.

2009 Recession

Uncertainty had been hanging over the markets because of the unprecedented refusal of the outgoing president, Donald Trump, to concede the election to President-elect Biden. When Trump began the transition process late in November, 2020, stocks roared back. The following are some milestones achieved by the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

In the autumn, it began to consistently close above 35,000 points, and by the last week in December 2021, it surpassed 36,000 points. A record high doesn’t mean “buy now” or “panic sell”—it’s just one milestone in the market’s long journey. The Dow fell 17% in three months, from 2,864.60 on Aug. 2 to 2,365.10 on Oct. 11, 1990. Kimberly Amadeo has 20 years of experience in economic analysis and business strategy. BrightFunded operates on a 2-step evaluation model to identify skilled traders.

Investors worried that China’s yuan devaluation and the uncertainty over the Fed’s rate increase would push the index further downward. The Dow responded with new highs throughout the latter part of 2019, even though trade negotiations had broken down until November. It hit a milestone on July 11, closing above 27,000, and then another on Nov. 15, closing above 28,000 (in the chart below, milestones are noted). Although the DJIA is currently at an all-time high, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. For example, during the Great Depression in the 1930s, the Dow dropped dramatically, losing nearly 90% of its value.

That is the second-fastest rise in U.S. history (currently, the record is 24 sessions to go from 10,000 to 21,000 in 1999). The Dow Jones Industrial Average (the Dow) is an index of the 30 top-performing U.S. companies. The most recent all-time-high record (as of this writing) was on Jan. 4, 2022, when it closed at 36,799.65.

Chart: Top 10 Dow Jones All-Time Closing Highs

While there are always pullbacks, the Dow has set new records after every major correction for over 100 years. See the top 10 highest closing values in Dow Jones history, including the record-breaking 45,014.04 set on December 4, 2024. Shares for most of the firms tracked by Dow rose in value on Friday, led by Intel (4.7%), IBM (2.8%) and Home Depot (2.6%), while shares for Walmart, Boeing and JPMorgan Chase fell slightly. “40,000 is a great milestone, but end of the day there isn’t much difference between 39,999 and 40k,” Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, said in a statement emailed Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average finished above 40,000 for the first time on Friday afternoon, doubling where the index hit shortly after Donald Trump became the 45th president. The easiest way to invest in the Dow may be to buy shares in State Street Global Advisors’ SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust, which trades under the ticker symbol DIA.

• It hit an all-time high of 34,200.67 points on Apr. 16, 2021.
• Over the past century, the Dow has consistently trended upward, reflecting the overall growth of the U.S. economy and the global markets.
• The Dow Jones hitting 45,631.74 in August 2025 shows how strong U.S. markets remain, with tech earnings, lower inflation, and Fed policy fueling record highs.
• The Dow’s new high above 45,600 in August 2025 is impressive, but it’s part of a bigger global rally.
• In 2019, the Dow hit two milestones and set 22 record closes.

Over time, the Dow expanded to include 30 of the largest U.S. companies, which better reflect the changing economy. Different indices reflect different trading styles, short-term Nasdaq rallies mirror day trading vs swing trading strategies in practice. It hit an all-time high of 34,200.67 points on Apr. 16, 2021.

In parentheses, when helpful, we provide the Dow’s points as inflation-adjusted to Feb. 23, 2024, for a relative comparison to its record highs. Stocks with higher prices (like UnitedHealth or Goldman Sachs) have more impact on the index than lower-priced stocks, even if they’re smaller companies. The close was just shy of a previous record close of 40,003 set on May 17.

What is the highest Dow Jones close ever?

Because of the price-weighted calculation method, a $1 change in the price of a stock in the DJIA doesn’t equate to one point in the index since that depends on the Dow divisor at the time. As such, point moves are a way to measure the relative change in the index’s value. That said, when comparing the value of the DJIA over time, many financial sites, as we have done above, use an inflation-adjustment calculator such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor’s CPI since this gives the relative change over time. The largest single-day drop, percentage-wise, that the Dow has had occurred when the market crashed on Oct. 19, 1987, Black Monday.

Long-Term Growth and Historical Trends

On Feb. 8, it entered a market correction when it fell 1,032.89 points to 23,860.46. The highest the Dow has ever been is a testament to the resilience and growth potential of the stock market. As investors, it is important to keep in mind that market highs and lows are part of the natural cycle. Despite occasional market downturns, the Dow has shown remarkable long-term growth throughout its history.