The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 31,041.13 on Thursday with a gain of 211.73 points or 0.69%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,803.79 for a gain of 55.65 points or 1.48%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 13,067.48 for a gain of 326.69 points or 2.56%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 22.34 for a loss of 2.73 points or -10.89%.
Thursday's market movers
U.S. stocks closed higher Thursday with major indexes reporting records. Investors showed confidence in Joe Biden. Congress completed the certification of the president-elect despite rioting protests Wednesday.
President Trump faced challenges after being suspended from several social media platforms. Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the platform seeks to prevent "undermining the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling for Trump's removal from office after his support of Wednesday's rioting activities.
Federal Reserve officials also gave some insights on their opinions of the economy Thursday. The Fed's Harker suggested an economic slowdown in the first quarter. The Fed's Bullard said inflation could surprise on the upside in 2021. Economists are looking to the December jobs report later this week, which could show a decrease in payrolls. Yesterday's ADP private sector report showed a loss of 123,000 payrolls.
In other news:
- Micron Technology (MU, Financial) released earnings. Revenue of $5.77 billion increased 12.3% year over year and beat estimates by $110 million. Fiscal first-quarter GAAP earnings of 71 cents per share beat estimates by 16 cents and non-GAAP earnings of 78 cents beat estimates by 9 cents.
- 787,000 Americans filed for jobless claims, down slightly from the previous week's 790,000. Continuing jobless claims were 5.072 million, down from 5.198 million.
- The November balance of trade report was released showing a deficit of $68.1 billion following a deficit of $63.1 billion. Exports were $184.2 billion and imports were $252.3 billion.
- The ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI increased to 57.2 in December from 55.9. Separately, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Business Activity Index increased to 59.4, the ISM Non-Manufacturing New Orders Index increased to 58.5, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Prices Index decreased to 64.8 and the ISM Non-Manufacturing Employment Index decreased to 48.2.
- The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 0.080% and eight-week bills at a rate of 0.085%.
- Freddie Mac released its weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.65%, down from 2.67%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.16%, down from 2.17%.
Across the board:
- iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXX, Financial) +3.77%
- Global X Cannabis ETF (POTX, Financial) 3.73% reported another day of strong gains after Democrats secured majority in the Senate.
- Fate Therapeutics (FATE, Financial) +17.48%
- Green Plains (GPRE, Financial) +15.08%
- Snowflake (SNOW, Financial) +13.50%
- Stratasys (SSYS, Financial) +38.97%
- Tesla (TSLA, Financial) +7.94%
- Nvidia (NVDA, Financial) +5.78%
- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Financial) +5.35%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 2,096.89 for a gain of 38.96 points or 1.89%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,199.81 for a gain of 14.79 points or 1.25%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 14,501.15 for a gain of 360.34 points or 2.55%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 9,577.92 for a gain of 59.59 points or 0.63%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,421.07 for a gain of 28.11 points or 1.17%; the S&P 100 at 1,734.79 for a gain of 28.04 points or 1.64%; the Nasdaq 100 at 12,939.57 for a gain of 316.22 points or 2.51%; the Russell 3000 at 2,288.44 for a gain of 36.09 points or 1.60%; the Russell 1000 at 2,152.15 for a gain of 33.50 points or 1.58%; the Wilshire 5000 at 39,898.84 for a gain of 628.64 points or 1.60%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 714.81 for a gain of 1.78 points or 0.25%.
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