U.S. market indexes were mostly higher on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,962.48 for a gain of 164.70 points or 0.66%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,703.96 for a gain of 2.63 points or 0.10%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,210.09 for a loss of -8.14 points or -0.11%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower for the day at 19.29 with a loss of -0.73 points or -3.65%.
Thursday’s market movers
The Dow Jones and S&P 500 regained some ground on Thursday after two previous days of losses. Technology stocks were lower with the Nasdaq Composite continuing to report losses for a fourth consecutive day. The energy sector reported leading gains on Thursday with sector losses reported from health care and financials.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Jobless claims decreased by 7,000 to 222,000.
- The Index of Leading Indicators showed a 1% monthly increase.
- The EIA Petroleum Status report showed a -1.6 million barrel decrease in oil inventory for the week.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
- United Technologies (UTX, Financial) 3.48%
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) 2.34%
- 3M (MMM, Financial) 1.57%
- Walmart (WMT, Financial) 1.41%
- Home Depot (HD, Financial) 1.31%
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,529.85 for a loss of -1.98 points or -0.13%. The S&P 600 closed at 934.83 for a loss of -0.10 points or -0.01%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,505.34 for a loss of -3.41 points or -0.04%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,911.17 for a loss of -18.13 points or -0.18%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,881.67 for a loss of-2.37 points or -0.13%; the S&P 100 at 1,196.68 for a gain of 2.30 points or 0.19%; the Russell 3000 at 1,597.61 for a gain of 1.28 points or 0.08%; the Russell 1000 at 1,497.33 for a gain of 1.50 points or 0.10%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 688.91 for a gain of 1.70 points or 0.25%.
