The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,700.45 on Wednesday with a loss of -219.21 points or -0.88%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,774.02 for a loss of -19.82 points or -0.71%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,716.61 for a loss of -42.59 points or -0.55%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 13.57 for a gain of 0.93 points or 7.36%.
Wednesday’s market movers
Trade concerns halted a fifth day of consecutive gains for U.S. market indexes. The Trump administration’s threats to tax imports on an additional $200 billion worth of goods from China led to equity market losses Wednesday. If imposed, China could be forced to pay new tariffs on $250 billion of imported goods to the U.S.
Sectors leading losses for the day included energy, materials and industrials. Top detractors included U.S. Cellular (USM, Financial), Chesapeake Energy (CHK, Financial) and American Superconductor (AMSC, Financial).
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The Mortgage Bankers Association’s mortgage applications index increased 2.5% for the week.
- The Producer Price Index increased 0.3% for the month and 3.4% for the year.
- Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% for the month.
- The EIA Petroleum Status report showed a decrease of -12.6 million barrels in oil inventory for the week.
- The Treasury held an auction for 10-year notes at a rate of 2.875%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses:
- Chevron (CVX, Financial) -3.13%
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) -2.95%
- 3M (MMM, Financial) -1.65%
- Boeing (BA, Financial) -1.62%
- United Technologies (UTX, Financial) -1.59%
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,683.66 for a loss of -11.96 points or -0.71%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,044.24 for a loss of -8.15 points or -0.77%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 10,410.16 for a loss of -74.23 points or -0.71%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 10,521.18 for a loss of -81.46 points or -0.77%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,991.48 for a loss of -16.64 points or -0.83%; the S&P 100 at 1,221.77 for a loss of -8.12 points or -0.66%; the Russell 3000 at 1,652.86 for a loss of -11.67 points or -0.70%; the Russell 1000 at 1,541.07 for a loss of -10.87 points or -0.70%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 707.80 for a loss of -4.58 points or -0.64%.
