LIVE MARKETS-The Dow comes close, but once again, no cigar

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THE DOW COMES CLOSE, BUT ONCE AGAIN, NO CIGAR

The Dow Industrials .DJI hit a fresh record intraday high early on Friday, for the first time since December 4, 2024. This, as UnitedHealth's UNH.N shares jumped after Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake in the health insurer, while investors also assessed mixed data to determine the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy move.

However, strength proved fleeting for the blue-chip average, and a reversal took hold. UNH still rose 12%, while contributing a gain of 200 index points to the DJI.

After hitting 45,203.52, the Dow closed up just 0.08% at 44,946.12. With this, it once again failed to set a new record close, ending down 0.15% from its 45,014.04 December 4, 2024 record finish.

The S&P 500 .SPX also hit a fresh record intraday high. However, the benchmark index closed down about 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 0.4%.

Markets are also focused on a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with hopes it could pave the way for a resolution to the Ukraine conflict and determine the outlook for crude prices.

A majority of S&P 500 sectors ended lower with financials .SPSY, down more than 1%, the weakest group. Healthcare .SPXHC, up more than 1.6%, with its biggest boost also from UNH, led gainers.

Communication services .SPLRCL advanced, and ended at a record close.

Under the surface, big banks .SPXBK, regional banks .KRX and chips .SOX were among weaker groups.

For the week, the Nasdaq rose 0.81%, the SPX gained 0.94%, and the Dow rallied 1.74%. It was the Dow's biggest weekly gain since early July.

Here is a snapshot of where markets stood shortly after the 4 p.m. close:

(Terence Gabriel)

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