The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly surpassed 40,000 for the first time on Thursday, peaking at 40,051.05, before closing slightly lower at 39,869.38, down 0.1%.

This milestone followed a bull market that started in October 2022 and was rekindled in May due to strong earnings and lower inflation.

Despite earlier setbacks in April over high interest rate concerns, investor sentiment improved with expectations of rate cuts and enthusiasm for artificial intelligence, CNBC has reported.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also closed lower, by 0.21% and 0.26% respectively, though both indices reached record highs during the session.

For the year, the Dow has risen nearly 6%, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 have each gained 11%.

Written by B.C. Begley