The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,115.76 on Wednesday with a gain of 241.12 points or 0.97%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,711.74 for a gain of 29.11 points or 1.09%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,305.90 for a gain of 144.25 points or 2.01%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 21.04 for a loss of -2.31 points or -9.89%.
Wednesday’s market movers
Stocks ended with a gain on the last trading day of a brutal October. Closing out the month, the S&P 500 was down -7.3%, the Dow Jones had a loss of -5.8% and the Nasdaq Composite was down -9.1%.
U.S. market indexes reported their second day of consecutive gains on Wednesday with the trade battle between the U.S. and China likely to be an important factor influencing the market’s direction in the last two months of the year. Earnings helped to contribute to the day’s gains. Automaker General Motors (GM, Financial) topped the earnings list with a 61 cent earnings per share beat and share price increase of 9.51%.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The Mortgage Bankers Association’s mortgage applications index was down -2.5%.
- The ADP employment report showed an increase of 227,000 payrolls in the private sector in October.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
- Visa (V, Financial) 3.70%
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) 3.28%
- Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) 2.97%
- Goldman Sachs (GS, Financial) 2.83%
- Apple (AAPL, Financial) 2.62%
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,511.42 for a gain of 4.78 points or 0.32%. The S&P 600 closed at 949.96 for a loss of -0.94 points or -0.10%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,426.95 for a gain of 81.57 points or 0.87%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,491.84 for a loss of -31.12 points or -0.33%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,825.10 for a gain of 5.57 points or 0.31%; the S&P 100 at 1,208.84 for a gain of 15.14 points or 1.27%; the Russell 3000 at 1,597.71 for a gain of 16.97 points or 1.07%; the Russell 1000 at 1,498.65 for a gain of 16.80 points or 1.13%; the Wilshire 5000 at 27,980.90 for a gain of 311.25 points or 1.12%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 686.08 for a loss of -1.16 points or -0.17%.
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