U.S. market indexes continued to gain on Wednesday with all three leading indexes reaching new highs.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 20,611.86 for a gain of 107.45 points or 0.52%. The Standard & Poor's 500 closed at 2,349.25 for a gain of 11.67 points or 0.50%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 5,819.44 for a gain of 36.87 points or 0.64%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher for the day at 11.97 for a gain of 1.23 points or 11.45%.
Wednesday’s market movers
Economic reports affecting trading on Wednesday included the following:
- The Mortgage Bankers Association’s mortgage applications report showed a decrease of -3.7%.
- The Consumer Price Index increased 0.6% for the month and 2.5% for the year.
- Retail sales increased 0.4% in January.
- Industrial production reported a decrease of -0.3% in January
- The Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations Index decreased slightly to 2.0% from 2.1%.
- Business inventories increased 0.4% in December.
- The Housing Market Index decreased to 65 and was below the expected consensus of 68 for February.
- The EIA Petroleum Status report showed an increase in oil inventory of 9.5 million barrels for the week.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
- Procter & Gamble (PG, Financial) 3.71%.
- Pfizer (PFE, Financial) 2.32%.
- Cisco (CSCO, Financial) 1.58%.
- JPMorgan (JPM, Financial) 1.15%.
In the broad market the healthcare sector led gains. Technology was also higher for the day with the S&P 500 technology sector up 0.33%.
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,404.21 for a gain of 7.56 points or 0.54%. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 857.91 for a gain of 4.72 points or 0.55%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 8,361.34 for a gain of 55.59 points or 0.67%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,890.77 for a gain of 13.81 points or 0.14%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,734.51 for a gain of 4.95 points or 0.29%; the S&P 100 Index at 1,037.59 for a gain of 5.46 points or 0.53%; the Russell 3000 Index at 1,397.43 for a gain of 6.80 points or 0.49%; the Russell 1000 Index at 1,304.50 for a gain of 6.29 points or 0.48%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 650.46 for a gain of 1.13 points or 0.17%.
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