The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 31,188.38 on Wednesday with a gain of 257.86 points or 0.83%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,851.85 for a gain of 52.94 points or 1.39%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 13,457.25 for a gain of 260.07 points or 1.97%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 21.58 for a loss of 1.66 points or -7.14%.
Wednesday's market movers
U.S. indexes closed with gains Wednesday as investors cheered the Biden and Harris inaugurations. The new presidential administration called for unity and a fresh start for America.
Earnings headlines for the day included:
- UnitedHealth (UNH, Financial): Revenue of $65.47 billion increased 7.5% year over year and beat estimates by $490 million. Fourth-quarter GAAP earnings of $2.30 per share beat estimates by 6 cents and non-GAAP earnings of $2.52 beat estimates by 13 cents.
- Procter & Gamble (PG, Financial): Revenue of $19.75 billion increased 8.3% year over year and beat estimates by $500 million. Fiscal second-quarter GAAP earnings of $1.47 per share missed estimates by 2 cents and non-GAAP earnings of $1.64 beat estimates by 13 cents.
- Morgan Stanley (MS, Financial): Revenue of $13.64 billion increased 25.6% year over year and beat estimates by $2.11 billion. Fourth-quarter GAAP earnings of $1.81 beat estimates by 55 cents and non-GAAP earnings of $1.92 beat estimates by 64 cents.
In other news:
- President Trump issued 143 pardons and commutations on his last day of office.
- Pfizer (PFE, Financial) and BioNtech (BNTX) say their vaccine is effective against a newly publicized U.K. variation of Covid-19.
- The MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased 1.9% following an increase of 16.7%. The MBA's average 30-year mortgage rate increased to 2.92% from 2.88%.
- The NAHB Housing Market Index decreased to 83 in January from 86.
- The Treasury held auctions for 105-day bills at a rate of 0.085%, 154-day bills at a rate of 0.090% and 20-year bonds at a rate of 1.657%.
Across the board:
- Real estate, technology and consumer discretionary led the day's gains.
- Adamis Pharmaceuticals (ADMP, Financial) +77.64%
- Collectors Universe (CLCT, Financial) +17.81%
- Netflix (NFLX, Financial) +16.85%
- Alphabet (GOOGL, Financial)(GOOG, Financial) +5.36%
- Amazon (AMZN, Financial) +4.57%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 2,160.62 for a gain of 9.48 points or 0.44%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,229.82 for a gain of 5.52 points or 0.45%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 15,079.45 for a gain of 79.60 points or 0.53%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 9,742.67 for a gain of 29.97 points or 0.31%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,469.01 for a gain of 24.91 points or 1.02%; the S&P 100 at 1,761.98 for a gain of 30.56 points or 1.77%; the Nasdaq 100 at 13,296.45 for a gain of 299.91 points or 2.31%; the Russell 3000 at 2,322.87 for a gain of 29.63 points or 1.29%; the Russell 1000 at 2,182.14 for a gain of 29.18 points or 1.36%; the Wilshire 5000 at 40,516.54 for a gain of 530.24 points or 1.33%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 723.11 for a loss of 0.58 points or -0.080%.
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