The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,473.23 on Thursday with a loss of 200.23 points or -0.78%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,748.93 for a loss of 22.52 points or -0.81%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,421.46 for a loss of 84.46 points or -1.13%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 16.59 for a gain of 0.85 points or 5.40%.
Thursday’s market movers
U.S. market indexes closed lower in a four-day selloff that has been fueled by the surprise resignation of the Food and Drug Administration’s commissioner, continuing uncertainty over a U.S.-China trade deal and some signs of economic contraction. Thursday’s announcement of new stimulus and no rate policy change by the European Central Bank also added to worries over the global economic growth outlook. Investors will be looking to Friday’s jobs report for further economic signs. The February jobs report is predicted to show approximately 175,000 new payrolls, down from January’s 304,000.
Treasuries continued their risk-off trading rally on Thursday with the 30-year bond’s price gaining 0.87%. In foreign exchange, the dollar gained with the U.S. Dollar Index increasing 0.77% to 97.62.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The Treasury held an auction for four-week bills at a rate of 2.405%.
- Consumer credit increased $17.05 billion in January, following an increase of $15.36 billion.
- Mortgage rates increased, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.41%, increasing from 4.35%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.83%, increasing from 3.77%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses:
- Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA, Financial) -2.14%
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) -1.51%
- 3M (MMM, Financial) -1.45%
- Chevron (CVX, Financial) -1.29%
- Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) -1.22%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,523.63 for a loss of 13.19 points or -0.86%. The S&P 600 closed at 935.73 for a loss of 10.05 points or -1.06%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,637.79 for a loss of 72.50 points or -0.75%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,447.70 for a loss of 118.84 points or -1.24%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,865.54 for a loss of 15.93 points or -0.85%; the S&P 100 at 1,212.88 for a loss of 10.26 points or -0.84%; the Russell 3000 at 1,624.06 for a loss of 13.05 points or -0.80%; the Russell 1000 at 1,524.29 for a loss of 12.18 points or -0.79%; the Wilshire 5000 at 28,463.00 for a loss of 223.55 points or -0.78%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 692.56 for a loss of -3.34 points or -0.48%
