The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,281.82 on Thursday with a gain of 11.93 points or 0.05%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,112.35 for a loss of 10.52 points or -0.34%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 9,615.81 for a loss of 67.10 points or -0.69%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 25.51 for a loss of 0.15 points or -0.58%.
Thursday’s market movers
U.S. indexes ended mostly lower Thursday after a four-day rally. Applications for jobless claims decreased from the previous week, but still remained extremely high at 1.877 million. The number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits also increased to 21.487 million from 20.838 million.
Investors were cautiously watching the labor market and reopening activity. Friday’s unemployment report is expected to provide a great deal of insight. The estimate for the unemployment rate is 19.5%.
In Europe, the European Central Bank said it would increase bond buying in its stimulus program by 600 billion euros ($680.2 billion), upping the total to 1.35 trillion euros.
In the energy sector, OPEC delayed its production cuts discussion, with producer negotiations occurring behind the scenes. The S&P 500 energy sector was down 0.55%.
Stock spotlights included:
- Slack (WORK, Financial): Announced earnings per share of -2 cents, beating the estimate of -7 cents.
- Gap (GPS, Financial): The Gap reported an earnings per share loss of -$2.51, below the estimate of -65 cents.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The balance of trade report showed a deficit of $49.4 billion in April. Exports were $151.28 billion and imports were $200.69 billion.
- 1.877 million people applied for jobless claims, down from 2.126 million new claims in the previous week. Continuing unemployment claims increased to 21.487 million from 20.838 million.
- The Commerce Department released its Productivity and Costs report. Non-farm unit labor costs increased 5.1% in the first quarter and non-farm productivity decreased -0.9%.
- The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 0.125% and eight-week bills at a rate of 0.145%. The 10-year Treasury’s yield ended at approximately 0.815%.
- Freddie Mac released its weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.18%, up from 3.15%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.62%, unchanged from the previous week.
In the S&P 100, the following stocks led losses and gains:
- Raytheon (RTN, Financial) -4.47%
- Abbott Laboratories (ABT, Financial) -3.45%
- Lowe's (LOW, Financial) -3.13%
- Ford (F, Financial) +7.61%
- American International Group (AIG, Financial) +5.89%
- Boeing (BA, Financial) +5.68%
- Wells Fargo (WFC, Financial) +5.28%
- Simon Property Group (SPG, Financial) +5.28%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,452.06 for a loss of 0.027 points or -0.0019%. The S&P 600 closed at 861.45 for a gain of 12.18 points or 1.43%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 9,985.73 for a loss of 55.19 points or -0.55%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 7,382.38 for a gain of 151.89 points or 2.10%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,852.20 for a gain of 2.59 points or 0.14%; the S&P 100 at 1,413.08 for a loss of 5.25 points or -0.37%; the Nasdaq 100 at 9,629.66 for a loss of 75.02 points or -0.77%; the Russell 3000 at 1,816.09 for a loss of 6.09 points or -0.33%; the Russell 1000 at 1,723.51 for a loss of 6.15 points or -0.36%; the Wilshire 5000 at 31,712.34 for a loss of 106.79 points or -0.34%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 616.63 for a gain of 2.10 points or 0.34%.
Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here.
