Spotlight Not Shining as Brightly on Brexit

Indexes higher on Wednesday as stocks continue to gain

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Jun 29, 2016
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Brexit was less of a focus for U.S. market indexes as stocks continued to gain on Wednesday.

For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher at 17,694.68 for a gain of 284.96 points or 1.64%. The Standard & Poor's 500 was also higher, closing at 2,070.77 for a gain of 34.68 points or 1.70%. The Nasdaq composite closed higher at 4,779.25 for a gain of 87.38 points or 1.86%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 16.74 for a loss of 2.01 points or 10.72%.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, stocks leading gains included:

Positive U.S. factors mostly influenced stocks Wednesday with the day’s leading economic report showing inflation at a reasonable level and oil prices also increasing. According to the Commerce Department, the PCE Price Index increased 0.9% over the previous 12 months. The PCE Price Index excluding food and energy increased 1.6%. Both reports were closer to the Fed’s 2% objective for inflation.

In the housing market, pending home sales were down 3.7% which was below consensus of -1%. Mortgage applications were also lower according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The number of mortgage applications decreased 2.6% in comparison to the previous week.

Oil prices gained slightly on Wednesday following the EIA’s Petroleum Status report. The Petroleum Status report showed oil inventories down 4.1 million barrels from the previous week.

Stocks trading actively for Wednesday included the following: Nike, Ford (F, Financial), Microsoft (MSFT, Financial), Citigroup (C, Financial) and General Electric (GE, Financial).

General Electric was a leading stock in the news for Wednesday after the company’s systemically important financial institution designation was released. While banks have been reporting positive stress tests from capital adequacy plans in recent weeks, GE has been released from this reporting as the company has been significantly divesting businesses in banking and capital markets.

On Wednesday, GE’s chief executive officer talked with CNBC about the changes that will be in effect for the company as it is no longer required to comply with Federal Reserve reporting.

Disclosure: I do not own shares of any stocks included in this article.

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