Dow ends at record as Wall Street shrugs off Capitol Hill siege
The Dow closed in record territory Wednesday, despite unrest in Washington after angry supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, once up more than 600 points, finished the day up 437.80 points, or 1.4%, at 30,829.40, a record close, while the Russell 2000, which rose 4%, also finished the day at an all-time high. The S&P 500 closed up 0.6%. Only the Nasdaq Composite, off 0.6%, closed down on the day.
Expectations that Democrats will control the Senate and the House led the Dow to rally, just as it did following Joe Biden's election victory. A Democrat-controlled Congress is more likely to pass a larger stimulus bill, giving the economy a boost.
The siege on the Capitol followed a speech from Trump, who criticised "weak" Republicans who would not support his efforts to overturn his election defeat, urging supporters to have a "wild" protest as he vowed: "We will never give up."
Soon after those words, a crowd of Trump supporters broke through security fencing, entering the building. Several flash-bang grenades were launched as tensions flared, and the mass of people outside the Capitol building began to swell.
One woman was killed as she was trying to break down the doors to a barricaded room where armed officers stood on the other side, police said. She was shot in the chest by Capitol Police and taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.
City police said three other people died from medical emergencies during the protest on and around the Capitol grounds.
Biden said that US democracy was under "unprecedented assault" and called for Trump to appear on national TV to "demand an end to this siege".
Moments later, Trump appeared in a video posted to his Twitter and Facebook accounts, in which he professed his "love" for his supporters, describing them as "very special", while also urging them to "go home".
This article was first published by our sister title Investment Week
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