U.S. market indexes were mostly higher on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 22,412.59 for a gain of 41.79 points or 0.19%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,508.24 for a gain of 1.59 points or 0.06%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6,456.04 for a loss of -5.28 points or -0.08%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 9.72 for a loss of -0.46 points or -4.52%.
Wednesday’s market movers
The Dow Jones and S&P 500 closed at new highs. The Federal Open Market Committee released economic projections and Janet Yellen discussed the committee’s plans to begin reducing the Fed’s balance sheet at a press conference following the two-day September meeting.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The Mortgage Bankers Association’s mortgage applications index reported a decrease of -9.7% for the week.
- Existing home sales decreased to 5.350 million SAAR from 5.440 million SAAR.
- The EIA petroleum status report showed an increase of 4.6 million barrels of oil inventory.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains for the day:
McDonald's (MCD, Financial) 1.56%
Travelers (TRV, Financial) 1.10%
In the broad market, industrial and energy stocks led gains. Technology was lower for the day with the S&P 500 technology sector down -0.45%.
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,445.42 for a gain of 5.02 points or 0.35%. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 869.16 for a gain of 3.18 points or 0.37%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 8,813.42 for a gain of 34.79 points or 0.40%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,719.72 for a gain of 41.39 points or 0.43%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,766.97 for a gain of 5.45 points or 0.31%; the S&P 100 Index at 1,110.16 for a gain of 0.90 points or 0.08%; the Russell 3000 Index at 1,485.49 for a gain of 1.70 points or 0.11%; the Russell 1000 Index at 1,390.43 for a gain of 1.32 points or 0.10%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 668.11 for a gain of 0.02 points or 0.01%.