US Market Indexes Lower With Increased Geopolitical Risks

U.S. market indexes were lower Wednesday. For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 20591.86 for a loss of -59.44 points or -0.29%. The S&P 500 closed at 2344.93 for a loss of -8.85 points or -0.38%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 5836.16 for a loss of -30.61 points or -0.52%. The VIX Volatility Index continued to gain with an end of day value of 15.56, increasing 3.25%.

Wednesday’s market movers

Stocks traded lower Wednesday with losses from geopolitical risks and bank earnings uncertainty. On Thursday, Citigroup (C, Financial), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Financial), PNC (PNC, Financial) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Financial) will report earnings.

Economic reports released on Wednesday included the following:

• The Mortgage Bankers Association’s mortgage applications index increased by 1.5%.
• Import prices reported a -0.2% increase for the year. Export prices reported a 3.6% increase.
• The EIA Petroleum Status report showed a decrease in oil inventory of -2.2 million barrels for the week. Oil prices were lower with WTI crude oil at $52.90 per barrel and Brent crude oil at $55.68 per barrel.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses:

Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) -2.33%

Boeing (BA, Financial) -1.34%

Home Depot (HD, Financial) -1.17%

In the broad market, industrial stocks led losses. Technology was also lower with the S&P 500 technology sector down -0.34%.

Small-cap stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1359.20 for a loss of -17.75 points or -1.29%. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 825.23 for a loss of -11.56 points or -1.38%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 8154.17 for a loss of -94.94 points or -1.15%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9518.08 for a loss of -123.50 points or -1.28%.

Other notable indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1699.90 for a loss of -19.95 points or -1.16%; the S&P 100 Index at 1037.83 for a loss of -2.55 points or -0.25%; the Russell 3000 Index at 1389.69 for a loss of -6.81 points or -0.49%; the Russell 1000 Index at 1300.21 for a loss of -5.50 points or -0.42%; and the Dow Jones US Select Dividend Index at 653.44 for a loss of -1.65 points or -0.25%.

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