#Dow Jones closes above 29,000 for the first time since February

The Dow Jones industrial average once again topped the 29,000 mark on Wednesday, bringing it within striking distance of an all-time high just months after sinking below 19,000.

The blue-chip index has been making a steady recovery since the COVID-19 pandemic sent it plummeting 10,000 points in March. Wednesday saw it close up 1.6 percent, or 454.8 points, at 29,100.5.

This 20,000 point up and down journey is unprecedented in the history of the Dow.

The Dow’s all-time high of 29,551 was reached in mid-February, just a month before the coronavirus all-but-shuttered the US economy. But since it bottomed out on March 23, the Dow’s 50 percent bounce has been helped along in large part by staggering gains in tech stocks like Apple and Microsoft.

This unprecedented growth has come despite the pandemic leaving many businesses shuttered and record-high levels of COVID-related unemployment.

President Trump took to Twitter to celebrate the milestone within minutes of the markets closing. “The Dow Jones Industrial just closed above 29,000! You are so lucky to have me as your President,” he wrote, adding a winking emoji. “With Joe Hiden’ it would crash.”