U.S. market indexes were lower on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,017.81 for a loss of -97.84 points or -0.37%. The S&P 500 Index closed at 2,798.03 for a loss of -4.53 points or -0.16%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,296.05 for a loss of -2.23 points or -0.03%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher for the day at 11.95 for a gain of 0.04 points or 0.34.
Thursday’s market movers
U.S. market indexes were lower Thursday with uncertainty over a potential government shutdown. Real estate, energy and utilities led losses. Technology stocks in the S&P 500 gained with the technology sector reporting an increase of 0.18%.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Mortgage rates were higher. The Freddie Mac weekly mortgage rate survey reported the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average at 4.04%, increasing from 3.99%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage average increased to 3.49%, up from 3.44%.
- Housing starts decreased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.192 million.
- Jobless claims decreased by 41,000 to 220,000.
- The EIA Petroleum Status report showed a decrease of -6.9 million barrels in inventory.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses for the day:
- General Electric (GE, Financial) -3.98%
- Boeing (BA, Financial) -3.11%
- American Express (AXP, Financial) -2.63%
- IBM (IBM, Financial) -2.52%
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,576.73 for a loss of -9.93 points or -0.63%. The S&P 600 Index closed at 961.81 for a loss of -7.50 points or -0.77%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,738.75 for a loss of -46.05 points or -0.47%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 10,389.43 for a loss of -87.35 points or -0.83%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,958.30 for a loss of -7.63 points or -0.39%; the S&P 100 Index at 1,241.59 for a loss of -1.79 points or -0.14%; the Russell 3000 Index at 1,651.54 for a loss of -3.46 points or -0.21%; the Russell 1000 Index at 1,548.21 for a loss of -2.71 points or -0.17%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 714.94 for a loss of -3.49 points or -0.49%.
