May 16 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones Industrial Average

breached the 40,000-point level for the first time ever

on Thursday, its fastest 10,000-point climb, powered by strong

quarterly results and rising bets of interest-rate cuts by the

Federal Reserve.

The blue-chip index surpassed its previous record high of

39,935.04, hit on Wednesday, and has recovered nearly 40% from

its October 2022 lows. At 10:40 a.m. ET, the Dow was up 0.2%, at

39,992.67.

"Breaking the 40,000 barrier is a big psychological boost

for the bulls as round numbers hold special significance in

people's hearts and minds," Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment

officer for Independent Advisor Alliance, said in a note.

"We are in a Bull Market and people are showing some

irrational exuberance (meme stocks) and dismissing bad news

(slowing retail sales) and focusing on good news (slightly

slowing inflation)."

U.S stock markets have climbed since the start of the year,

as investors bet on an AI-led rally, robust earnings and hopes

that the central bank will ease monetary policy this year.

All three major U.S. indexes hit fresh intraday record highs

on the day.

Of the 30 companies on the Dow, card company American

Express ( AXP ) and retail giant Amazon.com ( AMZN ) are among

the biggest percentage gainers so far this year, up 29% and 22%,

respectively.

Chipmaker Intel, which trails other players in the

surging market for AI components, is down 37% since the start of

year, making it the Dow's worst performer in 2024.

Planemaker Boeing follows Intel ( INTC ) with a 30%

year-to-date loss after the Jan. 5 mid-air panel blowout on a

MAX 9 jet rekindled concerns about safety.

For the Dow, the journey to 40,000 from the 30,000-mark took

a little more than three years, a faster climb than the previous

10,000-point clamber, at less than four years.

It took nearly two decades for it to move from the

10,000-mark to 20,000. The index, which dates to 1896, first

touched 10,000 in March 1999.