Dow Jones industrial average surpasses 20,000 to record high

The Dow, which tracks the largest publicly owned companies in the US, finally breaks record after a sudden rise in the past month

The Dow Jones industrial average finally broke through the 20,000 barrier on Wednesday morning - a historic high for the leading stock market index and one it has been close to breaching since Christmas.

The Dow, which first nearly topped 20,000 on 13 December and again on 6 January, when it came within 0.37 points of the landmark, finally broke through after the opening bell was rung on Wall Street by Ashton Poole, CEO of lender Triangle Capital. When the closing bell was rung by executives from InBev, brewers of Stella Artois, traders whooped and cheered a new milestone in the index, which closed at a record high of 20,068.

Great! #Dow20K https://t.co/wXFhXBLgag

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