By Gordon Gottsegen
Stocks tend to do well when the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000 all hit record closes at the same time
Stocks futures point to a push deeper into record territory on Tuesday after four major U.S. indexes closed at new high.
The stock market just did something that doesn’t happen very often. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, S&P 500 SPX, Nasdaq Composite COMP and Russell 2000 RUT all closed on Monday at new record highs on the same day. Futures on Tuesday morning indicate the party looks set to continue.
Stocks had several tailwinds pushing them higher on Monday. It was the midst of earnings season, and so far earnings have been generally strong. The Federal Reserve’s expected to deliver another interest rate cut on Wednesday. And investors have been reassured by President Trump saying that trade talks with China are set to go well, particularly after Truth Social posts implied the opposite earlier this month.
“The market isn’t cheap,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth Management. “The valuation concerns are still there.” But positive tones ahead of Trump’s meeting with Beijing’s top leader Xi Jinping later this week have been easing some trade jitters about the latest U.S. threats of potentially more tariffs against its crucial trade partner, he said.
Furthermore, another rate cut on Wednesday could help push borrowing costs lower, Pavlik told MarketWatch. “Does the economy need a rate cut? I don’t think it does now,” he said. “But it might later on to keep things moving forward.”
Those tailwinds were enough to give the entire U.S. stock market a boost to kick off the week. That includes the blue-chip Dow, the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the small-cap Russell 2000.
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It’s fairly uncommon for all four of those indexes to close at record highs the same day. It’s happened twice this year, on Oct. 27 and Sept. 18. Before that, the last time it happened was 2021. It’s happened 35 times in the past ten years, and 85 times since 1990.
Stocks have to see sustained periods of growth for the indexes to close at record highs, so it may not be a surprise that this phenomenon tends to happen deep into bull markets, but history suggests that the bull market trend could continue after the feat is achieved.
Stocks tend to continue growth after the four indexes close at records.
Over the past ten years, the S&P 500 was higher 69.7% of the time in the three months following the day where all four indexes finished at a record, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The average gain in those three months was 2.2%. And 78.8% of the time, the index was higher six months following the record day, with an average gain of 3.8%.
Historical performance does not guarantee future results, but this may point to an overall trend that market momentum tends to continue most of the time.
Ken Jimenez and Joy Wiltermuth contributed
-Gordon Gottsegen
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10-28-25 0727ET
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