The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,380.74 on Thursday for a gain of 264.98 points or 1.06%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,740.37 for a gain of 28.63 points or 1.06%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,434.06 for a gain of 128.16 points or 1.75%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 19.42 for a loss of -1.81 points or -8.53%.
Thursday’s market movers
U.S. market indexes reported their third consecutive day of closing gains Thursday. Stocks were helped by a positive report from President Trump on trade conversations with China. In the S&P 500, materials, consumer discretionary and industrials led gains.
Earnings also continued to influence trading. Top earnings gainers for the day included 1-800-Flowers.com (FLWS, Financial) with a 3 cent beat and 31% increase and LendingTree (TREE, Financial) with a 14 cent beat and 24% increase. In the Dow Jones, DowDuPont reported a 3 cent beat and 7.83% increase.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Jobless claims decreased to 214,000.
- Labor productivity increased 1.3% annually.
- The Markit Manufacturing PMI increased to 55.7 in October from 55.6.
- The ISM Manufacturing PMI decreased to 57.7 in October from 59.8.
- Construction spending was unchanged in September.
- Preliminary total vehicle sales began to be reported for September with a consensus of 17.1 million.
- Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage rate survey showed a decrease in rates. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.83%, decreasing from 4.86%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.23%, decreasing from 4.29%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
- DowDuPont (DWDP, Financial) 7.83%
- Intel (INTC, Financial) 2.84%
- United Technologies (UTX, Financial) 2.83%
Small-cap stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,545.24 for a gain of 33.83 points or 2.24%. The S&P 600 closed at 968.88 for a gain of 18.92 points or 1.99%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,646.59 for a gain of 219.64 points or 2.33%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,644.83 for a gain of 152.99 points or 1.61%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,862.45 for a gain of 37.35 points or 2.05%; the S&P 100 at 1,220.06 for a gain of 11.22 points or 0.93%; the Russell 3000 at 1,618.10 for a gain of 20.39 points or 1.28%; the Russell 1000 at 1,516.63 for a gain of 17.97 points or 1.20%; the Wilshire 5000 at 28,333.01 for a gain of 352.11 points or 1.26%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 689.85 for a gain of 3.77 points or 0.55%.
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