The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25289.27 on Thursday with a gain of 208.77 points or 0.83%. The S&P 500 index closed at 2730.20 with a gain of 28.62 points or 1.06%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7259.03 with a gain of 122.64 points or 1.72%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 19.98 for a loss of -1.27 points or -5.98%
Thursday’s market movers
U.S. market indexes closed higher Thursday after five days of losses. The dollar gained against the British pound as the U.K. faced more Brexit challenges. Positive reports on China trade negotiations helped investor optimism. Oil prices were also higher Thursday.
In the S&P 500, technology and energy led gains. Apple reported a gain of 2.36% with investors buying at new lows. On the earnings calendar, several retail companies reported earnings including JC Penney +12.7% (JCP, Financial), Dillard’s -14.8% (DDS, Financial) and Walmart -1.96% (WMT, Financial).
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Mortgage rates were mostly unchanged, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.94% with no change. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.36%, increasing three basis points.
- Export and import prices were reported. Export prices increased 3.1% annually in October. Import prices increased 3.5%.
- Jobless claims increased to 216,000 from 214,000.
- Retail sales increased 0.8% in October after a -0.1% decrease in September. Annually, sales were up 4.6%, increasing from 4.2%.
- Business inventories increased 0.3% in September after a 0.5% increase in August.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
- Cisco (CSCO, Financial) 5.21%
- 3M (MMM, Financial) 3.32
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) 3.25%
- Apple (AAPL, Financial) 2.36%
- JPMorgan (JPM, Financial) 2.16%
- Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) 2.14%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,524.12 for a gain of 21.62 points or 1.44%. The S&P 600 closed at 958.54 for a gain of 12.39 points or 1.31%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,480.19 for a gain of 144.47 points or 1.55%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,669.36 for a gain of 76.72 points or 0.80%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1863.03 for a gain of 21.41 points or 1.16%; the S&P 100 at 1212.59 for a gain of 12.82 points or 1.07%; the Russell 3000 at 1608.26 for a gain of 17.65 points or 1.11%; the Russell 1000 at 1508.33 for a gain of 16.18 points or 1.08%; the Wilshire 5000 at 28158.86 for a gain of 305.08 points or 1.10%; and the Dow Jones US Select Dividend Index at 690.83 for a gain of 1.63 points or 0.24%.
