The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 27,739.73 on Thursday with a gain of 46.85 points or 0.17%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,385.51 for a gain of 10.66 points or 0.32%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 11,264.95 for a gain of 118.49 points or 1.06%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 22.72 for a gain of 0.18 points or 0.80%
Thursday's market movers
The major U.S. indexes closed higher Thursday. Technology led the day's gains with the real estate sector also a strong contributor.
Stocks rebounded from Wednesday's afternoon selloff. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will discuss the Fed's monetary policy framework next week at Jackson Hole, with anticipation over plans for managing inflation. The Federal Open Market Committee's July minutes showed more economic challenges from Covid and some less optimistic projections for gross domestic product and unemployment rate declines.
Stock highlights:
- Uber (UBER, Financial) and Lyft (LYFT, Financial) both ended with gains after a court order allowing the two companies to continue business while their appeal in California is being considered.
- Alibaba (BABA, Financial): Revenue of $21.76 billion increased 34% year over year and beat estimates by $470 million. Earnings also beat estimates.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Around 1.106 million Americans filed jobless claims, up from the previous week's 971,000. Continuing jobless claims were 14.844 million, down from 15.480 million.
- The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index decreased to 17.2 in August from 24.1.
- The Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators Index increased 1.4% in July, following an increase of 3%.
- The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 0.080%, eight-week bills at a rate of 0.090% and 30-year TIPS at a rate of -0.272%.
- Freddie Mac released its weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.99%, up from 2.96 %. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.54%, up from 2.46%.
In the S&P 500, the following stocks led gains:
- Synopsys (SNPS, Financial) +8.55%
- L Brands (LB, Financial) +3.97%
- Servicenow (NOW, Financial) +3.69%
- Adobe (ADBE, Financial) +3.56%
- Autodesk (ADSK, Financial) +3.20%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,564.30 for a loss of 7.76 points or -0.49%. The S&P 600 closed at 900.74 for a loss of 7.69 points or -0.85%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 10,912.55 for a loss of 28.84 points or -0.26%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 7,223.92 for a loss of 66.53 points or -0.91%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,915.39 for a loss of 12.57 points or -0.65%; the S&P 100 at 1,573.73 for a gain of 10.70 points or 0.68%; the Nasdaq 100 at 11,477.05 for a gain of 158.41 points or 1.40%; the Russell 3000 at 1,980.29 for a gain of 6.40 points or 0.32%; the Russell 1000 at 1,880.79 for a gain of 7.01 points or 0.37%; the Wilshire 5000 at 34,614.28 for a gain of 115.11 points or 0.33%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 595.90 for a loss of 7.86 points or -1.30%.
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