The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,558.73 on Thursday with a gain of 396.32 points or 1.58%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,840.69 for a gain of 22.32 points or 0.79%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,806.52 for a gain of 32.41 points or 0.42%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 13.54 for a loss of -1.10 points or -7.51%.
Thursday’s market movers
Positive earnings reports and an optimistic outlook on trade with China helped U.S. market indexes to gain Thursday. Walmart (WMT, Financial) gained 9.33% on Thursday after its earnings report. Among the S&P 500 sectors, consumer staples, financials and industrials led gains.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Housing starts decreased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.168 million.
- Jobless claims decreased by -2,000 to 212,000.
- The Fed balance sheet showed a weekly increase in assets of $2.4 billion for total assets of $4.258 trillion.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,685.75 for a gain of 15.09 points or 0.90%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,066.20 for a gain of 9.03 points or 0.85%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 10,454.20 for a gain of 86.68 points or 0.84%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 10,588.17 for a gain of 101.10 points or 0.96%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,000.34 for a gain of 15.98 points or 0.81%; the S&P 100 at 1,258.75 for a gain of 10.54 points or 0.84%; the Russell 3000 at 1,686.93 for a gain of 13.33 points or 0.80%; the Russell 1000 at 1,575.35 for a gain of 12.31 points or 0.79%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 719.37 for a gain of 7.58 points or 1.06%.
