U.S. market indexes were higher on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 23458.36 for a gain of 187.08 points or 0.80%. The S&P 500 closed at 2585.64 for a gain of 21.02 points or 0.82%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6793.29 for a gain of 87.08 points or 1.30%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 11.76 for a loss of -1.37 points or -10.43%.
Thursday’s market movers
Gains from Cisco (CSCO, Financial) and Walmart (WMT, Financial) helped stocks on Thursday. The House of Representatives also passed its tax bill which brightened the outlook for tax reform.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Jobless claims increased by 10,000 to 249,000.
- Import and export prices were released. Import prices gained 2.5% for the year and export prices gained 2.7%.
- Industrial production increased by 0.9% for the month.
- The National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index increased to 70 from 68.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, Financial) 10.90%.
Cisco Systems (CSCO, Financial) 5.19%.
Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) 1.69%.
Verizon Communications (VZ, Financial) 1.50%.
In the broad market, technology led gains. The S&P 500 technology sector gained 1.40%.
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1486.88 for a gain of 22.79 points or 1.56%. The S&P 600 closed at 905.23 for a gain of 15.29 points or 1.72%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9062.69 for a gain of 134.03 points or 1.50%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,942.59 for a gain of 109.50 points or 1.11%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,836.39 for a gain of 18.34 points or 1.01%; the S&P 100 Index at 1139.91 for a gain of 9.17 points or 0.81%; the Russell 3000 Index at 1,530.53 for a gain of 13.44 points or 0.89%; the Russell 1000 Index at 1,432.75 for a gain of 11.82 points or 0.83%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 680.70 for a gain of 3.54 points or 0.52%.
