U.S. market indexes were lower on Wednesday. The Dow Jones closed at 24,682.31 for a loss of -44.96 points or -0.18%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,711.93 for a loss of -5.01 points or -0.18%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,345.29 for a loss of -19.02 points or -0.26%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 17.93 for a loss of -0.27 points or -1.48%.
Wednesday’s market movers
The Federal Open Market Committee raised the federal funds rate and showed a slightly more aggressive plan for future rate increases, which led to afternoon market losses. Sectors leading losses for the day included consumer staples, real estate and technology.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The Federal Reserve raised its federal funds rate to 1.5% to 1.75%. It also reported new economic projections.
- The Mortgage Bankers Association’s mortgage applications index showed a decrease of -1.1% for the week.
- The Current Account report showed a deficit of -$128.2 billion.
- Existing home sales were reported at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.540 million.
- The EIA Petroleum Status report showed a decrease of -2.6 million barrels in oil inventory for the week.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses:
- Apple (AAPL, Financial) -2.2%
- UnitedHealth (UNH, Financial) -1.78%
- Procter & Gamble (PG, Financial) -1.66%
- Visa (V, Financial) -1.35%
- Verizon (VZ, Financial) -0.86%
- Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) -0.72%
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,579.30 for a gain of 8.90 points or 0.57%. The S&P 600 closed at 964.15 for a gain of 4.72 points or 0.49%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,822.86 for a gain of 56.70 points or 0.58%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 10,040.74 for a gain of 45.71 points or 0.46%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,924.69 for a gain of 5.95 points or 0.31%; the S&P 100 at 1,189.53 for a loss of -2.90 points or -0.24%; the Russell 3000 at 1,608.57 for a loss of -1.41 points or -0.09%; the Russell 1000 at 1,504.48 for a loss of -2.14 points or -0.14%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index reported no gain or loss for the day, closing at 685.38.
