The Dow Jones Industrial Average came closer than ever before to 20000 on Friday, rising to within one point of the milestone before shying away late in the session.
Stocks got off to a shaky start, with the blue-chip index down 0.3% a few minutes after the opening bell. But as investors assessed the latest jobs data, shares climbed and the Dow reached 19999.63 at 12:43 p.m. EST, their highest level ever.