The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 27,781.70 on Wednesday with a gain of 329.04 points or 1.20%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,363.00 for a gain of 27.53 points or 0.83%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 11,167.51 for a gain of 82.26 points or 0.74%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 26.37 for a gain of 0.10 points or 0.38%.
For the month of September, the Dow Jones was down around 3%, the S&P 500 had a loss of approximately 4% and the Nasdaq reported a loss of approximately 5%. For the third quarter, the S&P 500 gained around 10%, the Dow Jones gained approximately 7% and the Nasdaq returned 12%. Year to date, the Nasdaq has a gain of 23.55%, the S&P 500 is up 4.09% and the Dow Jones is down 3.80%.
Wednesday's market movers
U.S. stocks ended the month of September and the third quarter of 2020 on Wednesday. The major indexes reported solid gains for the day after the country's first presidential debate leading up to the November 2020 election. The debate was heavily contentious and combative, with Trump and Biden clashing on nearly every area of discussion, causing a lack of comprehensive clarity for viewers. Overall, Trump held his ground on capitalistic ideals while Biden showed his course on several more socialist endeavors appealing to the working class. The candidates will appear in two more public debates before November, with announcements for more organization and structure moving forward.
In other news:
- The Commerce Department released its final GDP and Corporate Profits report. Gross domestic product showed a 31.4% decrease from the first quarter to the second on a seasonally adjusted annual basis. Corporate profits decreased 10.7% in the second quarter, following a decrease of 11% in the first quarter.
- Seven of the largest airlines announced loan agreements with the U.S. Treasury.
- The MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased 4.8% following a 6.8% increase. The MBA's 30-year average mortgage rate decreased to 3.05% from 3.10%.
- The ADP private sector employment report showed an increase of 749,000 new payrolls following an increase of 481,000 and beating the expectation of 610,000.
- The Chicago PMI increased to 62.4 from 51.2.
- Pending home sales increased 8.8% in August and 24.2% year over year.
- Crude oil inventory decreased by 3.8 million barrels, according to the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
- The Federal Reserve announced caps on big bank dividends and a halt on buybacks for the fourth quarter.
Across sectors, health care, financials and consumer staples led gains. In the S&P 500, the following stocks led gains:
- Duke Energy (DUK, Financial) 7.46%
- L Brands (LB, Financial) 4.78%
- Centene (CNC, Financial) 4.46%
- Universal Health Services (UHS, Financial) 4.38%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,507.69 for a gain of 2.96 points or 0.20%. The S&P 600 closed at 855.27 for a gain of 1.92 points or 0.23%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 10,680.07 for a gain of 26.01 points or 0.24%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 6,793.01 for a gain of 21.42 points or 0.32%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,861.29 for a gain of 12.50 points or 0.68%; the S&P 100 at 1,560.58 for a gain of 14.86 points or 0.96%; the Nasdaq 100 at 11,418.06 for a gain of 95.11 points or 0.84%; the Russell 3000 at 1,968.09 for a gain of 15.05 points or 0.77%; the Russell 1000 at 1,872.70 for a gain of 14.95 points or 0.80%; the Wilshire 5000 at 34,370.25 for a gain of 264.48 points or 0.78%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 584.66 for a gain of 3.57 points or 0.61%.
Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here.
