The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,128.17 on Thursday with a loss of 1,861.82 points or -6.90%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,002.10 for a loss of 188.04 points or -5.89%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 9,492.73 for a loss of 527.62 points or -5.27%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 40.78 for a gain of 13.21 points or 47.91%.
Thursday’s Market Movers
U.S. indexes ended lower Thursday after selling in equities. Investors were concerned over coronavirus infections with the number of infected individuals increasing to over 2 million. Investors also appeared to be taking some gains from the market’s recent rally and new highs for the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 financial sector was down 8.18% after the Federal Reserve's policy decision Wednesday. The Fed expects the federal funds rate to stay at 0 to 25 basis points through the remainder of the year and beyond. The Fed also has a -6.5% forecast for gross domestic product in 2020 and Jerome Powell was bearish in comments on the labor market.
The S&P 500 energy sector fell on Thursday with a loss of 9.42%. Oil prices were lower from a supply increase despite OPEC+ production cut agreements.
Bond prices were also lower Thursday on the news of no rate increases. The iShares Aaa – A Rated Corporate Bond Fund (QLTA) was down nearly 1%.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- 1.542 million Americans filed for jobless claims. Continuing jobless claims decreased to 20.929 million from 21.268 million.
- The Producer Price Index increased 0.4% in May. Year over year, the Producer Price Index was down 0.8%.
- The Core Producer Price Index decreased 0.1% in May. Year over year, the Core Producer Price Index was up 0.3%.
- The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 0.130%, eight-week bills at a rate of 0.155% and 30-year bonds at a rate of 1.450%.
- Freddie Mac released its weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.21%, up from 3.18%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.62%, unchanged from the previous week.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses:
- Boeing (BA, Financial) -15.72%
- Dow Inc. (DOW, Financial) -9.8%
- IBM (IBM, Financial) -8.89%
- Goldman Sachs Group (GS, Financial) -8.8%
- Exxon (XOM, Financial) -8.76%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,356.22 for a loss of 111.17 points or -7.58%. The S&P 600 closed at 792.25 for a loss of 70.84 points or -8.21%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 9,383.71 for a loss of 685.92 points or -6.81%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 6,751.39 for a loss of 658.73 points or -8.89%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,724.62 for a loss of 132.84 points or -7.15%; the S&P 100 at 1,376.79 for a loss of 82.99 points or -5.69%; the Nasdaq 100 at 9,588.48 for a loss of 505.78 points or -5.01%; the Russell 3000 at 1,746.70 for a loss of 111.84 points or -6.02%; the Russell 1000 at 1,660.70 for a loss of 104.50 points or -5.92%; the Wilshire 5000 at 30,536.16 for a loss of 1,946.05 points or -5.99%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 581.57 for a loss of 40.86 points or -6.56%.
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