U.S. market indexes were lower Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 23,848.42 for a loss of -9.29 points or -0.04%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,605.00 for a loss of -7.62 points or -0.29%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6,949.23 for a loss of -59.58 points or -0.85%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 22.94 for a gain of 0.44 points or 1.96%.
Wednesday’s market movers
A selloff in the technology sector continued to lower valuations and affect U.S. market indexes Wednesday. The S&P 500 technology sector reported a loss of -0.76% for the day. Energy and materials stocks also led losses.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The Mortgage Bankers Association’s mortgage applications index increased 4.8% for the week.
- Gross domestic product reported a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of 2.9% for the fourth quarter.
- Corporate profits reported a year-over-year decrease of -6.0%.
- International trade in goods reported a deficit of -$75.4 billion.
- Retail inventories increased 0.4% for the month.
- Wholesale inventories increased 1.1% for the month.
- The Pending Home Sales Index increased 3.1% for the month.
- The EIA Petroleum Status report showed an increase of 1.6 million barrels in oil inventory for the week.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses:
- Intel (INTC, Financial) -3.11%
- Cisco (CSCO, Financial) -2.39%
- Chevron (CVX, Financial) -2.23%
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) -1.25%
- Exxon (XOM, Financial) -1.21%
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,513.03 for a loss of -0.53 points or -0.04%. The S&P 600 closed at 929.30 for a gain of 1.44 points or 0.16%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,384.43 for a loss of -21.37 points or -0.23%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,726.93 for a gain of 48.83 points or 0.50%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,853.78 for a gain of 2.03 points or 0.11%; the S&P 100 at 1,141.51 for a loss of -2.23 points or -0.19%; the Russell 3000 at 1,544.78 for a loss of -4.24 points or -0.27%; the Russell 1000 at 1,445.11 for a loss of -4.25 points or -0.29%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 674.81 for a gain of 0.19 points or 0.03%.
