Stock Close Crazy First Week of 2021 At All-Time Highs

Stocks are off to a strong start for the year despite all the craziness in our nation’s capital.

The major indexes closed at all-time highs on Friday despite a Democratic sweep in the Georgia runoffs, an election protest turned into a calamitous Capitol Hill riot, a brief scare that a key Senator would oppose new Covid relief payments, and worse than expected jobs numbers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 57 points, or 0.2%, to end at 31,098. So far this year, the Dow is up an impressive 1.61 percent and is 8.19 percent above the year-ago level.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent Friday. Year to date, the broad index is up 1.83 percent. Compared with a year ago, the index is up 17.6 percent.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 1 percent. Year to date it is up 2.4 percent. Compared with a year ago, the tech-heavy index is up an incredible 44.61 percent.

The small-cap Russell 2000 fell for the day, losing a quarter of a percentage point. It is the leader year to date, with a 5.9 percent gain. Compared with a year ago, the Russell is up 25.7 percent.

The yield on the ten-year Treasury moved up to 1.12 percent, as investors moved into riskier assets. The price of oil moved up 3.7 percent.  The dollar turned higher against a basket of major currencies,.