U.S. market indexes were higher on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,264.30 for a gain of 230.94 points or 0.96%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,644.69 for a gain of 30.24 points or 1.16%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,042.11 for a gain of 100.83 points or 1.45%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 20.23 for a loss of -0.87 points or -4.12%.
Wednesday’s market movers
Technology stocks continued to report recovering valuations on Wednesday. Microsoft (MSFT, Financial), IBM (IBM, Financial) and Apple (AAPL, Financial) led gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Top gains in the index included the following:
- Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) 2.95%
- IBM (IBM, Financial) 2.85%
- Nike (NKE, Financial) 2.58%
- Home Depot (HD, Financial) 2.12%
- Coca-Cola (KO, Financial) 1.98%
- Apple (AAPL, Financial) 1.91%
Economic reports affecting market trading on Wednesday included the following:
- The Mortgage Bankers Association’s mortgage applications index decreased -3.3% for the week.
- The ADP private sector employment report showed an increase of 241,000 jobs, beating consensus of 185,000.
- The PMI Services Index decreased to 54.0 from 55.9.
- Factory orders reported a 1.2% monthly increase.
- The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index decreased to 58.8 from 59.5.
- The EIA Petroleum Status Report showed a decrease of -4.6 million barrels in oil inventory for the week.
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,531.66 for a gain of 19.51 points or 1.29%. The S&P 600 closed at 942.06 for a gain of 11.14 points or 1.20%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,499.93 for a gain of 125.20 points or 1.34%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,832.56 for a gain of 82.03 points or 0.84%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,876.78 for a gain of 16.41 points or 0.88%; the S&P 100 at 1,159.76 for a gain of 13.50 points or 1.18%; the Russell 3000 at 1,567.09 for a gain of 17.76 points or 1.15%; the Russell 1000 at 1,466.24 for a gain of 16.44 points or 1.13%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 683.76 for a gain of 5.93 points or 0.87%.
