Dow breaks 10,000 barrier

THE DOW 10,000 arrived yesterday, writes David Usborne in New York. History was made and the feel-good American economy that has been powering stocks higher for the past four and a half years suddenly felt even better. Then, in the blink of an eye - or the pop of a champagne cork - it was gone again. The five-digit Dow was four digits again.

The breaking of the mythical barrier happened at 9.50am, just 20 minutes into the day's trading. All heads on the New York Stock Exchange floor turned to the flashing numbers and there it was: Industrial Average up 41.35 points at 10,001.12. There were cheers and applause until, just as quickly, the numbers began to sink back to the ninety-nine hundreds.

The index, a composite of the share prices of 30 US blue-chip companies, has surged no less than 6,000 points since 1995.