The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,575.90 on Wednesday with a gain of 369.04 points or 1.52%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,971.61 for a gain of 48.67 points or 1.67%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 9,375.78 for a gain of 190.67 points or 2.08%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 27.89 for a loss of 2.64 points or -8.65%.
Wednesday’s market movers
U.S. indexes closed higher Wednesday with a second day showing some strong results in retail. Lowe’s (LOW, Financial) and Target (TGT, Financial) both beat estimates, following an earnings beat from Walmart (WMT, Financial) yesterday.
The Federal Reserve’s minutes capped some of the day’s gains with many of the extreme realities the economy is facing. A Congressional Budget Office report also said the second-quarter gross domestic product could show a decrease of 38% on an annualized basis.
On the earnings calendar:
- Lowe's (LOW, Financial): Revenue of $19.68 billion increased 10.9% year over year and beat estimates by $1.35 billion. First-quarter GAAP earnings of $1.76 per share beat estimates by 44 cents and non-GAAP earnings of $1.77 beat estimates by 45 cents. Comparable store sales increased 11.2%, beating the 4% consensus.
- Target (TGT, Financial): Revenue of $19.62 billion increased 11.3% year over year and beat estimates by $580 million. First-quarter GAAP earnings of 56 cents beat estimates by 10 cents and non-GAAP EPS of 59 cents beat estimates by 19 cents. Comparable store sales increased 10.8%, beating the 7.50% consensus.
- Best Buy (BBY, Financial) will report tomorrow with an earnings per share expectation of 41 cents.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased 2.6% and the MBA’s average 30-year mortgage rate decreased to 3.41% from 3.43%.
- The EIA’s Weekly Petroleum status report showed crude oil inventory down 4.983 million.
- The Treasury held its first auction for 20-year bonds since 1986. The bonds auctioned at a rate of 1.22%.
In the S&P 500, energy and financials led gains. In the S&P 100, the following stocks led gains:
- Halliburton (HAL, Financial) 7.13%
- Facebook (FB, Financial) 6.43%
- Schlumberger (SLB, Financial) 6.43%
- Disney (DIS, Financial) 5.62%
- Intel (INTC, Financial) 4.78%
- Morgan Stanley (MS, Financial) 4.77%
- Union Pacific (UNP, Financial) 4.58%
- American Express (AXP, Financial) 4.39%
- Occidental Petroleum (OXY, Financial) 4.31%
- Chevron (CVX) 4.10%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,345.65 for a gain of 37.93 points or 2.90%. The S&P 600 closed at 771.25 for a gain of 23.47 points or 3.14%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 9,333.11 for a gain of 232.58 points or 2.56%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 6,406.14 for a gain of 207.70 points or 3.35%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,688.63 for a gain of 36.00 points or 2.18%; the S&P 100 at 1,366.99 for a gain of 22.89 points or 1.70%; the Nasdaq 100 at 9,485.02 for a gain of 186.47 points or 2.01%; the Russell 3000 at 1,724.97 for a gain of 30.08 points or 1.77%; the Russell 1000 at 1,639.47 for a gain of 27.40 points or 1.70%; the Wilshire 5000 at 30,133.35 for a gain of 517.91 points or 1.75%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 562.75 for a gain of 10.05 points or 1.82%.
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