U.S. market indexes were mostly higher on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 23,516.26 for a gain of 81.25 points or 0.35%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,579.85 for a gain of 0.49% or 0.02%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6,714.94 for a loss of -1.59 points or -0.02%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 9.91 for a loss of -0.29 points or -2.84%.
Thursday’s market movers
The Dow Jones closed at a new high. President Donald Trump nominated Jerome Powell as the next Fed chairman.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Jobless claims decreased by 5,000 to 229,000.
- Productivity and costs reported a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of 3% for the quarter following a prior report of 1.5%.
- The Freddie Mac weekly mortgage survey reported the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage weekly average unchanged at 3.94%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage weekly average increased to 3.27% from 3.25%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
United Technologies (UTX, Financial) 1.13%
Goldman Sachs (GS, Financial) 1.07%
Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) 1.06%
In the broad market, financial and real estate stocks led gains. Technology was also higher with the S&P 500 technology sector gaining 0.05%
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,496.55 for a gain of 3.77 points or 0.25%. The S&P 600 Small Cap Index closed at 906.67 for a gain of 0.25 points or 0.03%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9091.47 for a gain of 13.97 points or 0.15%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 10,036.91 for a gain of 34.32 points or 0.34%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,831.34 for a gain of 1.24 points or 0.07%; the S&P 100 Index at 1,139.47 for a loss of -0.66 points or -0.06%; the Russell 3000 Index at 1,527.92 for a gain of 0.41 points or 0.03%; the Russell 1000 Index at 1,429.34 for a gain of 0.12 points or 0.01%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 679.18 for a gain of 1.58 points or 0.23%.
