The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,191.22 on Thursday with a gain of 10.92 points or 0.04%. The S&P 500 closed at 2806.83 with a loss of 7.06 points or -0.25%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,530.88 for a loss of 39.87 points or -0.53%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 16.65 for a gain of 0.29 points or 1.77%.
Thursday’s market movers
Oil prices closed lower for a ninth day and reported bear market territory decreases, sending energy stocks lower. The S&P 500 energy sector was down 2.31% on Thursday.
The Federal Reserve released a statement reporting no change in the federal funds interest rate at 2.25%, but indicated that further increases were still planned. In political news, investors were also cautious about the shift in power to the Democrats in the House of Representatives.
On the earnings front, Horizon Global (HZN, Financial) led losses for the day. The company missed earnings expectations by 20 cents and reported earnings per share of -1 cent. Horizon's stock was down 55%.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Jobless claims decreased by 1,000 to 214,000.
- The Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee kept the federal funds rate at 2.25% after its November meeting.
- Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage rate survey showed mortgage rates at a seven-year high. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage average increased 11 basis point to 4.94%. The 15-year fixed rate mortgage average increased 10 basis points to 4.33%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses:
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) -3.04%
- Exxon Mobil (XOM, Financial) -1.58%
- Disney (DIS, Financial) -1.22%
- Chevron (CVX, Financial) -1.12%
- Apple (AAPL, Financial) -0.86%
- DowDuPont (DWDP, Financial) -0.71%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,576.08 for a loss of 6.08 points or -0.38%. The S&P 600 closed at 989.57 for a loss of 2.49 points or -0.25%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,816.96 for a loss of 35.17 points or -0.36%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,857.28 for a loss of 26.12 points or -0.26%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,899.71 for a loss of 10.41 points or -0.54%; the S&P 100 at 1,247.89 for a loss of 4.56 points or -0.36%; the Russell 3000 at 1,652.34 for a loss of 6.36 points or -0.38%; the Russell 1000 at 1,548.86 for a loss of 5.99 points or -0.39%; the Wilshire 5000 at 28,962.44 for a loss of 89.26 points or -0.31%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 706.04 for a loss of 2.77 points or -0.39%.
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