Trump Era Adds 10,000 Points to the Dow, and Counting

Fox Business’s Jonathan Garber reports that on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 28,332.74, and therefore had climbed more than 10,000 points since Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United States on November 8, 2016. That’s a 54% gain, excluding the Dow’s all-important dividends. He writes:

The gains show why U.S. markets have become the envy of the world under Trump, who has followed through on his promises of cutting taxes and regulations and rewriting global trade deals in America’s favor.

By comparison, global exchanges such as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Britain’s FTSE have gained 20.4 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, since Trump’s election win, while China’s Shanghai Composite has lost 7.2 percent, according to Dow Jones Market Data Group. Of the major global averages, only Japan’s Nikkei, up 44.1 percent, has come close to the gains of the U.S. markets.

U.S. investors’ holdings have benefited from Trump’s pro-business agenda. He has lowered income tax rates for individuals, cut corporate taxes and rolled back a number of regulations, including restrictions on the country’s biggest banks.

Trump also negotiated the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which overhauls the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement, commonly known as NAFTA, and has embarked on a nearly 21-month-long trade war against China, which he says has “been taking advantage” of the U.S. for years.

This week, Democrats in the House backed the USMCA after months of negotiation, and an initial trade deal with China was reached. Both deals are expected to provide a tailwind for a stock market, and an economy, that have been on fire in the past four months.