Dow Jones hits record high

Two consecutive weeks of good news about COVID-19 vaccines boosted investors’ hopes. The Dow Jones closed at 29,950 points on Monday, an all-time record. The previous record was set in February before the pandemic hit. Since Oct. 30, the Dow has climbed more than 3,400 points.

Why has the market jumped so much? Moderna and Pfizer announced coronavirus vaccines with success rates higher than 90 percent in initial rounds of testing. Investors hope the shots signal the beginning of the end of the pandemic and the lockdowns that have kept American businesses running on fumes. In contrast, Zoom, the virtual meeting company whose stock exploded during the pandemic, saw its stock fall by more than 20 percent since Nov. 6.

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