ISTANBUL

The US stock market index Dow Jones industrial average on Friday climbed above the 40,000 record-high level for the first time in history.

The index increased to the all-time high level of 40,098.99 level at 11.51 a.m. EDT (1551GMT).

It was trading at 40,041 level with a gain of 288 points, or 0.73%, at 12.11 p.m. EDT.

The blue-chip index, which includes 30 prominent American companies listed on stock exchanges in the US, has been rising for the third consecutive trading days after gaining 1.09% on Wednesday and 0.08% on Thursday.

The rally in the index comes as investors' hopes are rising that the Federal Reserve's first rate cut could come in September.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday most recent inflation readings have shown some modest further progress in inflation, and more "good data" would strengthen the central bank's confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward its 2% goal.

That data came on Thursday with consumer price index (CPI), which measures changes in the prices of goods and services from a consumer's perspective, annually rose 3% in June, and came lower than market estimates of a 3.1% gain, while slowing down from a year-on-year increase of 3.3% recorded in May.

On a monthly basis, CPI showed a decline of 0.1% in June, and also came below the market expectation of a 0.1% increase, while it managed to post a slowdown from May when it showed no change.

The monthly negative reading in the CPI figure is a first since 2020, while the annual gain of 3% is a significant decline from a year-on-year increase of 9.1% recorded in the summer of 2022.