The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 31,176.01 on Thursday with a loss of 12.37 points or -0.04%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,853.07 for a gain of 1.22 points or 0.03%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 13,530.91 for a gain of 73.67 points or 0.55%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 21.32 for a loss of 0.26 points or -1.20%.
Thursday's market movers
U.S. stocks closed mostly flat Thursday, Joe Biden's first full day as president. Biden entered office with a Covid agenda and a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan. He signed 15 executive orders and two executive actions Thursday. His efforts included:
- Masks required on federal property across the nation.
- Revoking a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
- Invoking the Defense Production Act for COVID supplies.
On the economic calendar Thursday:
- The New Residential Construction Report was released. Building permits increased 4.5% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.709 million. Housing starts increased 5.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.669 million.
- 900,000 Americans filed for jobless claims, down from 926,000 in the previous week. Continuing jobless claims were 5.054 million, down from 5.181 million.
- The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index increased to 26.5 from 9.1.
- The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 0.070%, eight-week bills at a rate of 0.080% and 10-Year TIPS at a rate of -0.987%.
- Freddie Mac released its weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.77%, down from 2.79%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.21%, down from 2.23%.
Earnings headlines for the day included:
- Travelers (TRV, Financial): Earned premiums of $7.48 billion increased 3.2% year over year and beat estimates by $60 million. Fourth-quarter GAAP earnings of $5.10 per share beat estimates by $2 and non-GAAP earnings of $4.91 beat estimates by $1.76.
- IBM (IBM, Financial): Revenue of $20.37 billion decreased 6.5% year over year and missed estimates by $260 million. Fourth-quarter GAAP earnings of $1.41 beat estimates by 14 cents and non-GAAP earnings of $2.07 beat estimates by 19 cents.
- Intel (INTC, Financial): Revenue of $20 billion decreased 1.0% year over year and beat estimates by $2.5 billion. Fourth-quarter GAAP earnings of $1.42 per share beat estimates by 38 cents and non-GAAP earnings of $1.52 beat estimates by 41 cents. Stock gained 6.46%.
Across the board:
- United Airlines (UAL, Financial) down 5.73% after reporting a loss of approximately $2 billion.
- The iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXX, Financial) led sector gains for the day with a return of 1.45%.
- The S&P 500 energy sector was down 3.38%.
- Pure Energy Minerals (PE, Financial) +22.50%
- Moderna (MRNA, Financial) +6.26%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 2,141.42 for a loss of 19.20 points or -0.89%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,216.23 for a loss of 13.59 points or -1.11%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 14,989.81 for a loss of 89.64 points or -0.59%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 9,620.45 for a loss of 122.22 points or -1.25%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,453.24 for a loss of 15.77 points or -0.64%; the S&P 100 at 1,766.86 for a gain of 4.88 points or 0.28%; the Nasdaq 100 at 13,404.99 for a gain of 108.54 points or 0.82%; the Russell 3000 at 2,320.77 for a loss of 2.10 points or -0.090%; the Russell 1000 at 2,181.45 for a loss of 0.69 points or -0.032%; the Wilshire 5000 at 40,496.73 for a loss of 15.47 points or -0.038%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index 718.15 for a loss of 4.96 points or -0.69%.
Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here.
