A closing high is an index’s value when the market closes for the day. An intraday high is the highest level it touched while trading was open. They are frequently different numbers, and mixing them up is the single biggest reason financial sites report conflicting “record highs” for the same index.
Last checked: August 1, 2026. Figures below reflect the most recent closing and intraday records confirmed from FRED and Nasdaq’s own index history at time of writing.
What is the difference between a closing high and an intraday high?
The closing high is the index value at the end of the trading session, usually 4 PM ET. The intraday high is the peak value reached at any point during that same session. An index can set a new intraday high in the morning and still close below its all-time closing record by the afternoon.
This is not a technicality. It is the reason two pages can both be “correct” while showing different numbers for the same index on the same day.
Closing high
The final index value once the market closes. This is the number FRED, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and Nasdaq treat as the official daily record, and the one worth using for historical comparison.
Intraday high
The highest point touched during the session. It can disappear before the closing bell if the index pulls back, and it never gets revised into a closing record after the fact.
Rule of thumb: if the question is “the highest X has ever been,” default to the closing high first. Treat any intraday figure as a separate, faster-moving category.
Why do different sites report different “record highs” for the same index?
Three reasons account for almost every mismatch: one source cited an intraday print and another cited the close, one page has not been refreshed since the last record was broken, or the writer treated the two categories as interchangeable and picked whichever number came up first in a search.
The Dow Jones illustrates this well. On July 2, 2026, the index touched an intraday high of 52,903.85 and closed the same session at a record 52,900.07. Two numbers, 3.78 points apart, both real, both from the same day. A page citing the intraday print and a page citing the close will disagree by a few points and both be technically accurate, just answering different questions.
Current closing and intraday records, side by side
| Index | Closing high | Date | Intraday high | Date | Primary source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 52,900.07 | Jul 2, 2026 | 52,903.85 | Jul 2, 2026 | FRED (DJIA) |
| S&P 500 | 7,609.78 | Jun 2, 2026 | 7,624.88 | Jan 7, 2026 | FRED (SP500) |
| Nasdaq Composite | 27,086.81 | Jun 1, 2026 | 27,190.21 | Jun 1, 2026 | Nasdaq OMX index history |
Notice the Nasdaq row: its closing and intraday records were set on the same day, which happens when a rally holds all the way into the close. The S&P row shows the opposite pattern, where its highest intraday print (7,624.88, January 7, 2026) came nearly five months before its current closing record. That gap is exactly what gets lost when a source reports only one of the two figures without saying which.
Note on our own pages: the Dow record page and S&P 500 record page on this site are mid-refresh and currently show earlier closing figures than the table above. Treat this page as the more current source until those two are updated.
How this plays out over a real rally
Between February and July 2026, the Dow set multiple closing records, and headlines from the same week sometimes cited the close, sometimes the intraday print, without saying which:
| Date | Reported figure | Type | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 6, 2026 | 50,115.67 | Closing high | First Dow close above 50,000 |
| May 22, 2026 | 50,712.24 | Intraday high | Touched but not a closing record |
| Jun 25, 2026 | 51,920.62 | Closing high | Same-day intraday record preceded this close |
| Jul 2, 2026 | 52,900.07 | Closing high | Current closing record at time of writing |
A reader skimming headlines across those months, without checking which type of high each one referred to, could reasonably end up citing any of four different numbers as “the record.”
What this means when you’re checking a record yourself
- Check whether the source specifies closing or intraday. If it does not say, treat the number as unverified.
- For historical comparison and ranking, use the closing high, not the intraday print.
- Check the date. A closing record from three months ago has likely already been broken in an index that is trending upward.
- Go to the primary series (FRED for Dow and S&P, Nasdaq’s own index history for the Composite) rather than a news aggregator when the exact figure matters.
How the major indexes compare on this
| Index | Weighting | How often closing and intraday records land same-day |
|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | Price-weighted | Common during strong momentum days, as seen July 2, 2026 |
| S&P 500 | Market-cap weighted | Less common; intraday and closing records can sit months apart |
| Nasdaq Composite | Market-cap weighted | Common during tech-led rallies, as seen June 1, 2026 |
FAQs about closing high vs intraday high
Is the intraday high the same as the record high?
Not always. The intraday high is the highest level touched during a session. The record most sources mean by default is the closing high. An index can touch a new intraday high and still close below its closing record.
Why do two websites show different all-time highs for the same index?
Usually one site cites the closing high and the other cites an intraday print, or one page has not been updated since the last record was broken. Same index, two different definitions of “high,” two different numbers.
Which number should I use, the close or the high of the day?
For historical comparison, ranking, and reporting, use the closing high. That is the figure FRED, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and Nasdaq treat as the official daily record. Use the intraday high only when you specifically need the peak reached during the session.
Does an AI Overview or search snippet show the closing or intraday number?
It depends on whatever the underlying page reported. AI-generated answers inherit whichever figure the source page used, closing or intraday, without necessarily saying which. That ambiguity is a large part of why the two get treated as interchangeable when they should not be.
Do record highs get revised later?
The closing values themselves don’t change. What changes is which close currently holds the record, since an index trending upward keeps setting new ones. A figure that was the record last month can drop to second or third within weeks.
