The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,356.74 on Thursday with a gain of 181.92 points or 0.75%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,736.61 for a gain of 23.39 points or 0.86%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,586.43 for a gain of 83.75 points or 1.12%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 15.08 for a loss of -1.06 points or -6.57%.
Thursday’s market movers
U.S. market indexes ended modestly higher after the June Federal Reserve minutes showed Federal Open Market Committee members acknowledging risks from new trade terms that could slow economic growth, but reporting that it would not likely slow plans for rate increases much in 2018.
Sectors leading gains for the day included technology, consumer staples and health care. Top contributors for the day included Lending Club (LC), Deutsche Bank (DB, Financial) and Square (SQ, Financial).
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The ADP employment report showed an increase of 177,000 jobs in the private sector.
- Jobless claims increased by 3,000 to 231,000.
- The Purchasing Managers' Index decreased to 56.5 from 56.8.
- The Institute for Supply Management’s Non-Manufacturing Index increased to 59.1 from 58.6.
- The EIA Petroleum Status inventory report showed an increase of 1.2 million barrels of oil for the week.
- The Federal Open Market Committee released its June 12 to 13 meeting minutes.
- The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet showed a decrease of -$10.4 billion in assets with total assets of $4.305 trillion.
- Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey showed mortgage rates falling. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average was reported at 4.52%, down three basis points from the previous week. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage average was reported at 3.99%, down five basis points from the previous week.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
- Intel (INTC, Financial) 2.69%
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Financial) 1.83%
- Procter & Gamble (PG, Financial) 1.57%
- Merck (MRK, Financial) 1.55%
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) 1.55%
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,677.21 for a gain of 16.79 points or 1.01%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,041.43 for a gain of 12.50 points or 1.21%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 10,337.67 for a gain of 102.53 points or 1.00%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 10,483.46 for a gain of 93.28 points or 0.90%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,973.86 for a gain of 16.51 points or 0.84%; the S&P 100 at 1,202.84 for a gain of 11.08 points or 0.93%; the Russell 3000 at 1,632.26 for a gain of 14.23 points or 0.88%; the Russell 1000 at 1,520.64 for a gain of 12.99 points or 0.86%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 706.55 for a gain of 4.86 points or 0.69%.
