Dow Jones jumps 500 points, breaking 26,000

The Dow Jones Industrial Average pushed past 26,000 Wednesday, continuing a three-day rally as investors bet on a strong economic recovery.

The index climbed 527 points, or 2 percent, while the S&P 500 rose 42 points, or 1.4 percent.

The Dow first reached the 26,000 marker briefly in January 2018, and returned to that level most recently this past summer.

Investors have held onto a positive outlook on the economy’s future even as economic conditions continue to be dire. May’s jobs report, due Friday, is expected to show the worst unemployment rate since the Great Depression, and this quarter is expected to contract at rates not seen in nearly a century.

But with the economy starting to reopen across the country, markets are quickly moving to erase the significant losses they incurred in March when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down huge swaths of the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has recovered about two-thirds of those losses since.

Markets also brushed aside a wave of unrest that has swept across the country over racial justice, which has led to widespread peaceful protests as well of scenes of rioting and looting in major cities.