The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 29,348.10 on Friday with a gain of 50.46 points or 0.17%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,329.62 for a gain of 12.81 points or 0.39%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 9,388.94 for a gain of 31.81 points or 0.34%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 12.11 for a loss of 0.21 points or -1.70%.
For the week, the Nasdaq gained 2.3%, the S&P 500 gained 2% and the Dow Jones gained 1.8%. For the year, the Nasdaq has a gain of 3.3%, the S&P 500 has a gain of 2.2% and the Dow Jones is up 1.5%.
Friday’s market movers
U.S. indexes closed at new highs Friday with continued demand from stock investors. A strong week of bank earnings helped valuations. Higher retail sales Thursday also supported the economy's growth.
Investors continued to applaud the "phase one" China trade deal, particularly greater protections for intellectual property. Skeptics, however, reported that there could be some issues with the trade deal passing World Trade Organization rules, namely the high amount of promised purchases by China.
The impeachment trial was opened in the Senate with a reading of the articles on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate trial begins on Tuesday. President Trump announced his team, which includes Ken Starr, Alan Dershowitz and Robert Ray.
In other news:
- The final U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement was passed in the Senate.
- China's gross domestic product growth was the lowest since 1990 at 6.1% in 2019.
- Housing starts increased 16.9% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.608 million. Building permits decreased 3.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.416 million.
- The Fed's Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report showed industrial production down 0.3% in December and down 1% year over year. Manufacturing production was up 0.2% in December and down 1.3% year over year. Capacity utilization decreased to 77% from 77.4%.
- The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survery showed 6.8 million job openings in November, down from 7.361 million.
- The Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index decreased to 99.1 in January from 99.3.
- The Baker Hughes North American oil rig count increased to 1,040 from 984.
In the S&P 500, utilities and technology led gains. In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
- Visa (V, Financial) 1.87%
- Dow Inc. (DOW, Financial) 1.64%
- Travelers (TRV, Financial) 1.37%
- Home Depot (HD, Financial) 1.35%
- Nike (NKE, Financial) 1.12%
- Apple (AAPL, Financial) 1.11%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,699.64 for a loss of 5.58 points or -0.33%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,039.28 for a loss of 1.75 points or -0.17%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 10,940.17 for a loss of 33.97 points or -0.31%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 9,993.36 for a loss of 25.48 points or -0.25%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,095.55 for a loss of 4.79 points or -0.23%; the S&P 100 at 1,489.62 for a gain of 6.11 points or 0.41%; the Nasdaq 100 at 9,173.73 for a gain of 48.73 points or 0.53%; the Russell 3000 at 1,949.87 for a gain of 5.63 points or 0.29%; the Russell 1000 at 1,840.01 for a gain of 6.10 points or 0.33%; the Wilshire 5000 at 34,028.79 for a gain of 103.12 points or 0.30%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 766.95 for a gain of 3.31 points or 0.43%.
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