New York – The Dow Jones industrial average came within half a point of 20,000 but closed below that milestone as an afternoon rally lost momentum.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The gains Friday did push two other major indexes, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Nasdaq composite, to all-time highs. The Dow didn’t close at a record.
Traders were encouraged by a December jobs report showing that wages jumped by the largest amount in seven years.
Technology companies posted some of the biggest gains. EBay jumped 3.5 percent and Facebook added 2.3 percent.
Phone companies fell. AT&T gave back 2 percent.
The Dow gained 64 points, or 0.3 percent, to 19,963.
The S&P 500 rose 8 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,276. The Nasdaq climbed 33 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5,521.