Dow Soars To New All-Time High, Paced By Caterpillar, 3M

Led by two of its highest-priced components, the Dow Jones Industrial Average blasted to another new high on Tuesday.

Caterpillar (CAT) and 3M (MMM) announced strong third quarter results with the maker of heavy industrial and earth-moving equipment was up nearly five percent, while 3M rose almost six percent on the day.

With those two posting extraordinary gains and the remainder of the Dow 30 rather muted, the blue chip index vastly outpaced the other main indices, putting 24,000 within sight just days after breaking through the 23,000 mark.

The Dow closed above 23,000 for the first time on October 18 and is up nearly 500 points in just one week.

Investors continue to chase returns, and, in the case of Dow components, dividend yield. Both 3M and Caterpillar offer dividend yields rivaling the 10-year treasury bill and are considered by analysts to be among the safest of equities to hold in a portfolio.

The other indices all ended the session with gains, but at much lower percentages than the Dow.

At the Close, Tuesday, October 24, 2017:
Dow: 23,448.20, +174.24 (+0.75%)
NASDAQ: 6,597.09, +10.26 (+0.16%)
S&P 500: 2,567.98, +3.00 (+0.12%)
NYSE Composite: 12,405.13, +20.70 (+0.17%)