Why the Dow is Finally Beating the NasdaqThe Dow Picks Up Steam. It's Near Its Record Close.Last Updated:Updated 4 min agoWhy the Dow is Finally Beating the NasdaqThe Nasdaq Composite's furious rally to fresh highs has hit the brakes, but the Dow is picking up the torch.The blue-chip index rose 260 points, or 0.6%, and was only a few hundred points off its Dec. 4 record close of 45,014.04. The Nasdaq was flat, and struggling to gain momentum. The S&P 500 was up 0.2%.The Dow was winning because of its relative lack of exposure to the tech and communication services sectors, which were both down 0.2%.