US winning streak best since 1959

WALL Street clocked up its longest winning streak for nearly 60 years last night as investors cheered Donald Trump’s probusiness blueprint for the world’s biggest economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 72.5 points to 26,149.39 after the President used his first State of the Union address to herald a ‘new American moment’. It rounded off the tenth monthly rise in a row for the blue chip index of leading US stocks - the longest winning streak since 1959. At the same time, the pound recorded its best start to the year against the dollar on record amid growing optimism about the outlook for Brexit Britain.

Sterling gained 5pc against the greenback last month – its strongest January since Bloomberg started collecting the data in 1971 - and was trading at $1.42 last night. Yesterday’s Wall Street rally followed the worst two days for the stock market since Trump’s election in November 2016.

The Dow fell 2pc on Monday and Tuesday – fuelling fears that the bull run that saw it gain nearly 8,000 points since Trump defeated rival Hillary Clinton had run out of steam. But forecasts of bumper profits from Boeing led Wall Street higher again last night.

The US stock market has been buoyed by strong corporate earnings, growing momentum in the world economy, and the economic reforms promised by Trump.

The billionaire businessman has slashed corporate taxes and pledged to spend more than £1trillion improving America’s creaking infrastructure.

‘We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways across our land,’ he said in his State of the Union speech. ‘And we will do it with American heart, American hands, and American grit.’