By Paul R. La Monica

What AI selloff? The stock market roared back to life Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring more than 1,000 points, or 2%, to above 49,950. That puts the 50,000 milestone squarely in sight.

The broadening out of the market rally since the end of 2025 has benefited the Dow 30. Even though the DJIA does include tech stalwarts such as Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft, its gains have been propelled this year by solid returns for Goldman Sachs, Caterpillar, Amgen, and Sherwin-Williams among others.

Those four stocks all have high share prices, which means they have a bigger impact on the price-weighted Dow than they would if the index was weighted according to market value. Boeing is powering ahead as well.

The Dow has been rising, with some fits and starts, since it topped the 40,000 barrier in May 2024. Strong earnings and a resilient economy have helped push the broader market higher.

Big gains for Caterpillar and Goldman Sachs have contributed to the rally of the past year, but suddenly resilient healthcare stocks have had an impact too. Johnson & Johnson and Merck are the second-best and fifth-best performers in the Dow over the past 12 months, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Investors are also gravitating to high-yielding haven stocks in the consumer staples sector. Coca-Cola and Walmart are top Dow gainers of the past year.

At the same time, gains for stocks in tech and artificial intelligence haven't completely fizzled. Despite recent volatility, Nvidia's stock is up about 44% in the past year, making it the third best-performing Dow stock. Cisco Systems has also been one of the top ten gainers in the Dow since early 2025.

That means the Dow's rally is sweeping up more participants, rather than that tech has been left behind. Companies such as Nvidia have clearly helped lift the index toward 50,000 as well.

Write to Paul R. La Monica at paul.lamonica@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 06, 2026 13:53 ET (18:53 GMT)

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