The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 28,376.96 on Thursday with a gain of 137.68 points or 0.49%. The S&P 500 closed at 3205.37 for a gain of 14.23 points or 0.45%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 8,887.22 for a gain of 59.48 points or 0.67%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 12.50 for a loss of 0.080 points or -0.64%.
Thursday’s market movers
U.S. indexes overlooked impeachment worries Thursday, resuming a year-end rally. All three major indexes closed at new record highs. Investors were optimistic about the affects of last week's trade truce. Earnings comments from Conagra Brands (CAG, Financial) and Micron Technologies (MU, Financial) also lifted investors' confidence with positive growth outlooks supporting the economy's health.
Nike (NKE, Financial) gained 0.58% Thursday with its earnings report announcement. Nike reported second-quarter revenue of $10.33 billion, beating estimates by $240 million and increasing 10.2% year over year. Second-quarter GAAP earnings of 70 cents per share beat estimates by 12 cents.
Investors also started looking ahead to next month's fourth-quarter and full-year results, which will kick off with the big banks around Jan. 13.
In other news:
- The House passed the USMCA trade agreement.
- China announced a new list of tariff exemptions, including U.S. chemical and oil products.
- Sweden increased its benchmark repo rate to 0.0%, moving out of negative territory.
- The Current Account Report for the third quarter showed a deficit of $124.1 billion.
- Jobless claims decreased to 234,000 from 252,000.
- Existing home sales decreased 1.7% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million.
- The Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators Index was unchanged in November following a decrease of 0.2%.
- The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 1.51%, eight-week bills at a rate of 1.56% and five-year TIPS at a rate of 0.020%.
- Mortgage rates were unchanged according to Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage market report. The average 30-year mortgage rate was 3.73% and the average 15-year mortgage rate was 3.19%.
In the S&P 500, real estate and technology led gains. In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,667.09 for a gain of 5.36 points or 0.32%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,022.44 for a gain of 2.91 points or 0.29%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 10,644.30 for a gain of 46.99 points or 0.44%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 9,989.78 for a gain of 23.06 points or 0.23%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,054.31 for a gain of 8.16 points or 0.40%; the S&P 100 at 1,429.91 for a gain of 6.83 points or 0.48%; the Nasdaq 100 at 8,641.29 for a gain of 60.67 points or 0.71%; the Russell 3000 at 1,878.65 for a gain of 8.36 points or 0.45%; the Russell 1000 at 1,770.59 for a gain of 8.03 points or 0.46%; the Wilshire 5000 at 32,760.40 for a gain of 144.55 points or 0.44%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 752.14 for a loss of 0.14 points or -0.019%.
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