Nasdaq closes above 6,000 as Facebook and Netflix hit records

The Nasdaq is finally getting its mojo back.

The tech-heavy stock index — which has been overshadowed of late as the Dow has blown past the 20,000 and 21,000 marks in recent months — surpassed 6,000 for the first time in its history, closing at 6,025.49.

The Nasdaq’s record, driven as Facebook, Alphabet and Netflix all hit all-time highs on Tuesday, came 17 years after the index passed the 5,000 mark at the height of the dot-com bubble in 2000.

“The reason the Nasdaq has been the strongest of the major indexes is that’s where the growth is,” Ian Winer, head of equities at Wedbush, told The Post.

While the Nasdaq hit new records, other indexes surged even more, driven by unexpectedly high profits from blue-chip firms including McDonald’s and Caterpillar.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.1 percent to 20,996.12 — the highest level since March 6, and the fourth-highest close in the index’s history.

Wall Street was also buoyed by reports that President Trump was looking to slash the corporate tax rate to 15 percent from around 35 percent now—even though few believe he’ll be able to pull it off.

“I don’t think anybody really believes he’s going to get 15 percent,” Winer said.

Major Wall Street banks have so far been pessimistic that Trump will pass any tax reform bill this year amid his push to revive a replacement for Obamacare, The Post reported last week.

Since Trump has signaled that he is willing to add to the federal deficit in order to accomplish his tax plan, investors have been more bullish on the plan, Winer said.

“The fear was it was going to be deficit neutral and nothing would ever get done,” he said.