US Market Indexes Higher on Wednesday, S&P 500 Reaches New High

U.S. market indexes were higher on Wednesday. For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 21012.42 for a gain of 74.51 points or 0.36%. The S&P 500 closed at 2404.39 for a gain of 5.97 points or 0.25%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6163.02 for a gain of 24.31 points or 0.40%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower for the day at 9.96 for a loss of -0.76 points or -7.09%.

Wednesday’s market movers

Stocks closed higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve released its meeting minutes. The meeting minutes showed an increase in the federal funds rate likely for June and plans for decreasing the Fed’s balance sheet. Economic reports affecting trading for the day included the following:

• The Mortgage Bankers Association released its mortgage applications index with a weekly increase of 4.4% in mortgage applications.
• The FHFA House Price Index increased 0.6% for the month.
• Existing homes sales increased to 5.570 million SAAR.

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

Goldman Sachs (GS, Financial) 1.91%

Coca-Cola (KO, Financial) 1.44%

DuPont (DD, Financial) 1.34%

McDonald's (MCD, Financial) 1.14%

In the broad market, materials stocks led gains. Technology was also higher with the S&P 500 technology sector gaining 0.41%.

Small-cap stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1382.51 for a gain of 1.53 points or 0.11%. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 836.96 for a gain of 0.44 points or 0.05%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 8363.67 for a gain of 13.68 points or 0.16%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9456.22 for a gain of 11.98 points or 0.13%.

Other notable indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1728.35 for a gain of 4.57 points or 0.27%; the S&P 100 Index at 1060.76 for a gain of 2.23 points or 0.21%; the Russell 3000 Index at 1423.58 for a gain of 3.52 points or 0.25%; the Russell 1000 Index at 1332.68 for a gain of 3.44 points or 0.26%; and the Dow Jones US Select Dividend Index at 654.65 for a gain of 1.49 points or 0.23%.

Start a free 7-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus.Â