The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 23,537.68 on Thursday with a gain of 33.33 points or 0.14%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,799.55 for a gain of 16.19 points or 0.58%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 8,532.36 for a gain of 139.19 points or 1.66%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 40.11 for a loss of 0.73 points or -1.79%.
Thursday’s market movers
U.S. indexes closed with gains Thursday. President Trump announced guidelines and guidance for reopening economies by state. His plan, called Opening Up America, has a focus on a downward trajectory of positive cases over a 14-day period and a strong testing plan for health care workers. In the U.S., over 659,000 cases have been reported. Data shows that the nation overall may now be past its peak.
On the first quarter earnings calendar for the day:
- Morgan Stanley (MS, Financial) reported revenue of $9.49 billion, down 7.8% year over year and missing estimates by $330 million. First-quarter GAAP earnings of $1.01 per share missed estimates by 14 cents and non-GAAP earnings of 99 cents missed estimates by 12 cents. The stock is down 0.10%.
- Abbott Laboratories (ABT, Financial) gained 5.56% after earnings of 65 cents beat estimates by 11 cents.
- Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM, Financial) gained 5.52% after earnings per share of 75 cents beat estimates by 9 cents.
- The Bank of New York Mellon (BK, Financial) gained 4.36% after earnings of $1.05 per share beat estimates by 15 cents.
- Blackrock (BLK, Financial) gained 3.59%. Earnings of $6.60 per share missed estimates by 9 cents.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index fell to -56.6 in April from -12.7.
- The New Residential Construction report was released. Building permits decreased 6.8% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.353 million. Housing starts decreased 22.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.216 million.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 5.245 million jobless claims for the week, down from 6.615 million in the previous week. Continuing jobless claims increased to 11.976 million from 7.446 million.
- The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 0.15% and eight-week bills at a rate of 0.15%. The 10-year Treasury ended the day with a yield of 0.624%.
In the S&P 500, health care, technology and consumer discretionary led gains. In the S&P 100, the following stocks led gains:
- UnitedHealth (UNH, Financial) 5.95%
- Abbott Laboratories (ABT, Financial) 5.56%
- Gilead (GILD, Financial) 5.03%
- Nvidia (NVDA, Financial) 4.94%
- Amazon (AMZN, Financial) 4.36%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,178.09 for a loss of 5.89 points or -0.50%. The S&P 600 closed at 691.42 for a loss of 4.31 points or -0.62%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 8,023.96 for a gain of 11.26 points or 0.14%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 5,825.71 for a loss of 117.99 points or -1.99%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,505.64 for a loss of 3.16 points or 0.21%; the S&P 100 at 1,292.90 for a gain of 9.22 points or 0.72%; the Nasdaq 100 at 8,757.83 for a gain of 165.87 points or 1.93%; the Russell 3000 at 1,607.03 for a gain of 7.55 points or 0.47%; the Russell 1000 at 1,533.16 for a gain of 8.06 points or 0.53%; the Wilshire 5000 at 28,118.93 for a gain of 143.47 points or 0.51%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 551.36 for a loss of -3.59 points or -0.65%.
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