U.S. market indexes were higher on Thursday with the Nasdaq Composite reporting a new high. For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 20728.49 for a gain of 69.17 points or 0.33%. The S&P 500 closed at 2368.06 for a gain of 6.93 points or 0.29%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 5914.34 for a gain of 16.80 points or 0.28%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 11.54 for a gain of 0.12 points or 1.05%.
Thursday’s market movers
Economic reports were the main catalyst for continued gains in U.S. market indexes on Thursday. Economic reports affecting trading included the following:
- The final estimate of fourth quarter GDP showed a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of 2.1%, beating consensus of 2.0% and increasing from the previous report of 1.9%.
- Jobless claims decreased by 3,000 to 258,000.
- Fourth-quarter corporate profits increased 22.3% from the comparable quarter.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
ExxonMobil (XOM, Financial) 2.05%
American Express (AXP, Financial) 1.23%
Goldman Sachs (GS, Financial) 1.21%
Wal-Mart (WMT, Financial) 1.20%
UnitedHealth (UNH, Financial) 0.95%
JPMorgan (JPM, Financial) 0.86%
In the broad market, financial stocks led gains for the day. Technology stocks were higher with the S&P 500 technology sector gaining 0.19%.
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1382.35 for a gain of 10.70 points or 0.78%. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 842.42 for a gain of 7.57 points or 0.91%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 8282.74 for a gain of 45.48 points or 0.55%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9618.23 for a gain of 87.76 points or 0.92%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1718.58 for a gain of 9 points or 0.53%; the S&P 100 Index at 1049.18 for a gain of 3.49 points or 0.33%; the Russell 3000 Index at 1403.74 for a gain of 4.65 points or 0.33%; the Russell 1000 Index at 1312.61 for a gain of 3.86 points or 0.29%; the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 653.71 for a gain of 1.71 points or 0.26%.
Start a free 7-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus.
