U.S. market indexes were higher on Wednesday after two days of losses. For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 21173.69 for a gain of 37.46 points or 0.18%. The S&P 500 closed at 2433.14 for a gain of 3.81 points or 0.16%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6297.38 for a gain of 22.32 points or 0.36%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower for the day at 10.39 for a loss of -0.06 points or -0.57%.
Wednesday’s market movers
Gains from financial stocks helped index valuations on Wednesday. The S&P 500 financial sector gained 0.77% for the day. Economic reports affecting trading included the following:
- The Mortgage Bankers Association’s mortgage applications index showed a 7.1% increase in mortgage applications for the week.
- The EIA reported an increase of 3.3 million barrels in oil inventory for the week.
- The Federal Reserve released its Consumer Credit report with an $8.2 billion increase in consumer credit outstanding for the month following an increase of $19.5 billion in the previous month.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
UnitedHealth (UNH, Financial) 1.32%
American Express (AXP, Financial) 1.22%
JPMorgan (JPM, Financial) 1.15%
Technology stocks also reported gains for the day with the S&P 500 technology sector increasing 0.32%.
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1396.67 for a gain of 1.78 points or 0.13%. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 846.20 for a gain of 1.24 points or 0.15%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 8456.74 for a loss of -6.16 points or -0.07%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9437.52 for a gain of 5.54 points or 0.06%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1736.84 for a loss of -0.21 points or -0.01%; the S&P 100 Index at 1073.47 for a gain of 1.85 points or 0.17%; the Russell 3000 Index at 1439.79 for a gain of 1.97 points or 0.14%; the Russell 1000 Index at 1347.98 for a gain of 1.86 points or 0.14%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 659.10 for a gain of 0.20 points or 0.03%.
