The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 22,653.86 on Tuesday with a loss of 26.13 points or -0.12%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,659.41 for a loss of 4.27 points or -0.16%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,887.26 for a loss of 25.98 points or -0.33%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 46.18 for a gain of 0.94 points or 2.08%.
Tuesday’s market movers
The major U.S. indexes traded higher for most of the day, but ultimately closed with slight losses on Tuesday. President Trump continued to express his optimism for chloroquine treatments and also discussed an array of drugs being researched for the coronavirus. The curves for new coronavirus cases and deaths also showed some flattening after Monday’s numbers were released.
President Trump announced a new agreement with 3M (MMM) to import nearly 170 million masks for frontline and special forces workers. The Treasury appears to be taking steps for making its stimulus payments with cash balances at record highs. Lawmakers are also discussing the idea of another stimulus package that could provide additional aid for the country.
China’s reopened economy helped its central Shanghai stock market index to a gain of 2.1% Tuesday. The S&P 500 energy sector also led gains for Tuesday with a return of approximately 2.04% as talks are still in the works for oil market aid and production cuts.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The NFIB Business Optimism Index decreased to 96.4 in March from 104.5.
- The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed job openings of 6.882 million in February, down from 7.012 million
- The Treasury held an auction for 10-year notes at a rate of 0.782%. In the secondary market, the 10-year Treasury ended the day with a yield of 0.731%.
- Consumer credit outstanding increased by $22.33 billion in February following an increase of $12.1 billion.
In the S&P 100, the following stocks led gains and losses for the day:
- Simon Property Group (SPG, Financial) +12.75%
- General Motors (GM, Financial) +8.80%
- Capital One Financial (COF, Financial) +7.65%
- American International Group (AIG, Financial) +7.55%
- Boeing (BA, Financial) -4.86%
- Raytheon (RTN, Financial) -4.47%
- Procter & Gamble (PG, Financial) -4.15%
- Gilead Sciences (GILD, Financial) -4.08%
- Nvidia (NVDA, Financial) -3.44%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,140.83 for a gain of 2.05 points or 0.18%. The S&P 600 closed at 677.65 for a gain of 3.00 points or 0.44%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 7,671.21 for a gain of 4.93 points or 0.06%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 5,816.48 for a gain of 107.37 points or 1.88%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,463.92 for a gain of 19.36 points or 1.34%; the S&P 100 at 1,222.75 for a loss of 5.40 points or -0.44%; the Nasdaq 100 at 8,049.31 for a loss of 32.36 points or -0.40%; the Russell 3000 at 1,526.54 for a loss of 0.67 points or -0.044%; the Russell 1000 at 1,454.86 for a loss of 0.70 points or -0.048%; the Wilshire 5000 at 26,522.11 for a loss of 9.97 points or -0.04%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 538.05 for a gain of 4.37 points or 0.82%.
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