The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 27,976.84 on Wednesday with a gain of 289.93 points or 1.05%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,380.35 for a gain of 46.66 points or 1.40%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 11,012.24 for a gain of 229.42 points or 2.13%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 22.28 for a loss of 1.75 points or -7.28%.
Wednesday's market movers
U.S. indexes closed higher Wednesday, led by semiconductors and biotech. Russia says it has the first registered Covid vaccine. Moderna (MRNA, Financial) announced a $1.5 billion vaccine deal. Pfizer (PFE, Financial) and BioNTech also reported success in their Covid-19 vaccine development.
In the Nasdaq Biotech Index, the following stocks led gains:
- Pacific Biosciences of California (PACB, Financial) +23.49%
- Seres Therapeutics (MCRB, Financial) +17.56%
- Twist Bioscience Corporation (TWST, Financial) +11.64%
- Compugen (CGEN, Financial) +7.80%
Stock highlights:
- Tesla (TSLA, Financial) gained 13.12% after announcing a 5-for-1 stock split.
- Lyft (LYFT): Revenue of $339.3 million decreased 60.9% year over year and missed estimates by $10.14 million. A second-quarter GAAP earnings loss of $1.41 per share beat estimates by 10 cents.
- Lemonade (LMND): Revenue of $29.9 million increased 116.7% year over year and beat estimates by $0.59 million. A second-quarter GAAP earnings loss of $1.77 beat estimates by 41 cents.
- Vroom (VRM): Revenue of $253.09 million decreased 3.0% year over year and beat estimates by $18.14 million. A second-quarter GAAP earnings loss of $2 per share missed estimates by $1.45 and a non-GAAP loss of 34 cents beat estimates by 40 cents.
- Cisco (CSCO): Revenue of $12.15 billion decreased 9.5% year over year and beat estimates by $60 million. Fourth-quarter GAAP earnings of 62 cents per share beat estimates by 1 cent.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The MBA Mortgage Applications Index increased 6.8% following a decrease of 5.1%. The MBA's average 30-year mortgage rate decreased to 3.06% from 3.14%.
- The Consumer Price Index increased 0.6% in July following an increase of 0.6%. Year over year, the Consumer Price Index increased 1%, up from 0.6%.
- The Consumer Price Index excluding food and energy increased 0.6% in July. Year over year, the Consumer Price Index increased 1.6%, up from 1.2%.
- Crude oil inventory was down 6.8 million barrels, according to the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
- The Treasury held auctions for 105-day bills at a rate of 0.110%, 154-day bills at a rate of 0.120% and 10-year notes at a rate of 0.677%.
- The Treasury's Monthly Budget Statement for July showed a deficit of $63 billion.
In the S&P 500, the following stocks led gains:
- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Financial) +7.45%
- Qualcomm (QCOM, Financial) +6.40%
- Nvidia (NVDA) +5.44%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,583.25 for a gain of 8.15 points or 0.52%. The S&P 600 closed at 924.17 for a gain of 4.38 points or 0.48%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 10,925.46 for a gain of 67.63 points or 0.62%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 7,534.82 for a gain of 5.45 points or 0.07%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,958.29 for a gain of 13.15 points or 0.68%; the S&P 100 at 1,560.59 for a gain of 24.59 points or 1.60%; the Nasdaq 100 at 11,157.72 for a gain of 281.64 points or 2.59%; the Russell 3000 at 1,974.48 for a gain of 26.19 points or 1.34%; the Russell 1000 at 1,873.57 for a gain of 25.78 points or 1.40%; the Wilshire 5000 at 34,525.03 for a gain of 465.54 points or 1.37%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 618.97 for a gain of 1.08 points or 0.17%.
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