The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,656.98 on Thursday with a loss of -76.62 points or -0.30%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,856.98 for a loss of -4.84 points or -0.17%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,878.46 for a loss of -10.64 points or -0.13%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 12.41 for a gain of 0.16 points or 1.31%.
Thursday’s market movers
U.S. market indexes were lower Thursday with housing and manufacturing data reaching lows alongside continued disclosures of presidential legal campaign issues and rising interest rate speculation. New home sales fell to a nine-month low. The manufacturing PMI also reported its lowest level in nine months.
In the broad market, materials and energy led the day’s losses. Large-cap losses were led by Caterpillar, Goldman Sachs and Exxon Mobil.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Jobless claims decreased by 2,000 to 210,000.
- The FHFA House Price Index reported a monthly increase of 0.2% and a 12-month increase of 6.5%.
- The Purchasing Managers' Index decreased to 55.0 from 55.9.
- New home sales decreased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 627,000.
- The Jackson Hole Annual Symposium began on Thursday with Federal Reserve President Colin Powell scheduled to speak on Friday morning.
- The Fed balance sheet showed a weekly decrease in assets of -$29.1 billion with total assets of $4.229 trillion.
- Mortgage rates decreased, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage rate survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.51%, down 0.02% from the previous week. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.98%, down 0.03% from the previous week.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses for the day:
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) -2.88%
- Goldman Sachs (GS, Financial) -2.96%
- Exxon (XOM, Financial) -0.88%
- DowDuPont (DWDP, Financial) -0.65%
- McDonald's (MCD, Financial) -1.50%
- Chevron (CVX, Financial) -0.99%
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,717.05 for a loss of -5.49 points or -0.32%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,087.70 for a loss of -3.50 points or -0.32%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 10,682.78 for a loss of -18.76 points or -0.18%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 10,712.01 for a loss of -57.71 points or -0.54%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,026.91 for a loss of -7.58 points or -0.37%; the S&P 100 at 1,265.08 for a loss of -2.01 points or -0.16%; the Russell 3000 at 1,699.53 for a loss of -3.23 points or -0.19%; the Russell 1000 at 1,585.68 for a loss of -2.84 points or -0.18%; the Wilshire 5000 at 29,830.98 for a loss of -58.98 points or -0.20%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 721.54 for a loss of -1.18 points or -0.16%.
