The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,269.89 on Wednesday with a gain of 527.24 points or 2.05%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,122.87 for a gain of 42.05 points or 1.36%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 9,682.91 for a gain of 74.54 points or 0.78%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 25.66 for a loss of 1.18 points or -4.40%.
Wednesday’s market movers
U.S. stocks gained for a fourth day with several economic improvements. ADP provided an upbeat private sector employment report, showing a decrease of -2.760 million payrolls. ADP’s report beat economists’ estimate of -9.600 million and improved from April’s decrease of -19.557 million. Auto sales for May beat expectations, increasing to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 12.2 million. Markit and ISM also showed improvements in the services sector.
The White House announced five vaccine candidates and companies it plans to support, including Moderna (MRNA), AstraZenaca (AZN), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE). Legislators on Capital Hill are also looking at another potential round of stimulus measures for Americans and the economy.
Overall, economic reports for the day included the following:
- Auto sales increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 12.2 million in May, up from 8.7 million.
- The MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased 3.9% following an increase of 2.7%. The MBA’s average 30-year mortgage rate decreased to 3.37% from 3.42%.
- The May ADP private sector employment report showed a decrease of 2.760 million payrolls, improving from a decrease of 19.557 million in April and beating the estimate of -9.600 million.
- The Markit Composite PMI increased to 37.0 in May from 27.0.
- The Markit Services PMI improved to 37.5 from 26.7.
- The ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI improved to 45.4 in May from 41.8. Separately, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Business Activity Index improved to 41.0 from 26, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Prices Index improved to 55.6 from 55.1, the ISM Non-Manufacturing New Orders Index increased to 41.9 from 32.9 and the ISM Non-Manufacturing Employment Index increased to 31.8 from 30.
- Factory orders decreased 13% in April. Factory orders excluding transportation decreased 8.5%.
- The EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report showed crude oil inventory up 1.9 million barrels to a total of 1.18 million barrels.
In the S&P 500, industrials, financials and energy led gains. Investors are doubtful on an OPEC meeting to discuss production cuts happening on Thursday. In the S&P 100, the following stocks led gains:
- Boeing (BA, Financial) 16.04%
- Simon Property Group (SPG, Financial) 14.86%
- Raytheon Technologies (RTX, Financial) 6.42%
- American Express (AXP, Financial) 6.39%
- General Motors (GM, Financial) 6.13%
- U.S. Bancorp (USB, Financial) 5.63%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,452.09 for a gain of 33.88 points or 2.39%. The S&P 600 closed at 849.27 for a gain of 29.01 points or 3.54%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 10,040.92 for a gain of 190.90 points or 1.94%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 7,230.49 for a gain of 316.84 points or 4.58%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,849.61 for a gain of 48.99 points or 2.72%; the S&P 100 at 1,418.33 for a gain of 14.91 points or 1.06%; the Nasdaq 100 at 9,704.69 for a gain of 47.38 points or 0.49%; the Russell 3000 at 1,822.18 for a gain of 26.93 points or 1.50%; the Russell 1000 at 1,729.66 for a gain of 24.63 points or 1.44%; the Wilshire 5000 at 31,819.13 for a gain of 468.10 points or 1.49%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 614.53 for a gain of 14.86 points or 2.48%.
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