Nasdaq Reaches Another New High on Wednesday

U.S. market indexes were mostly higher on Wednesday. The Nasdaq Composite reached its fourth consecutive record high, closing at 6129.14 for a gain of 8.56 points or 0.14%. The S&P 500 closed at 2399.63 for a gain of 2.71 points or 0.11%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 20943.11 for a loss of -32.67 points or -0.16%. The VIX Volatility Index ended at 9.99 on Wednesday for a gain of 0.03 points or 0.30%.

Wednesday’s market movers

Nasdaq Composite gains were led by positive earnings reports in the technology sector. In the broad market, energy stocks led gains.

Leading economic reports released for the day included the following:

• The Mortgage Bankers Association’s mortgage applications index increased by 2.4% for the week.
• Import and export prices were both higher for the month. Import prices gained 0.5% and export prices gained 0.2%.
• Business inflation expectations increased from an annual rate of 1.9% to 2.0%.
• The EIA Petroleum Status report showed a weekly inventory decrease of 5.2 million barrels.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses and gains:

Losses

Disney (DIS, Financial) -2.25%

Boeing (BA, Financial) -1.25%

Intel (INTC, Financial) -0.99%

General Electric (GE, Financial) -0.76%

Gains

Chevron (CVX, Financial) 1.35%

Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) 1.08%

Merck (MRK, Financial) 1.03%

JPMorgan (JPM, Financial) 0.78%

Small-cap stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1399.59 for a gain of 7.73 points or 0.56%. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 851.31 for a gain of 4.08 points or 0.48%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 8440.89 for a gain of 52.47 points or 0.63%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9574.22 for a gain of 44.67 points or 0.47%.

Other notable indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1738.56 for a gain of 10.73 points or 0.62%; the S&P 100 Index at 1059.10 for a loss of -1.52 points or -0.14%; the Russell 3000 Index at 1422.46 for a gain of 2.33 points or 0.16%; the Russell 1000 Index at 1330.22 for a gain of 1.75 points or 0.13%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 655.49 for a gain of 2.73 points or 0.42%.

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