The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,464.69 on Wednesday with a loss of -0.95 points or -0.01%. The S&P 500 index closed at 2,649.93 for a gain of 8.04 points or 0.30%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6,972.25 for a gain of 63.43 points or 0.92%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 20.83 for a loss of -1.65 points or -7.34%.
Wednesday market movers
U.S. market indexes closed mostly higher before the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday. Markets will close early on Friday.
Stocks rebounded after two days of losses. Higher oil prices helped energy stocks. The Dow Jones Transportation Average also reported substantial gains, closing with an increase of 1.49%.
In the S&P 500, energy and consumer discretionary led gains. On the NYSE, Qudian (QD, Financial) at 27.04%, California Resources (CRC, Financial) at 19.56% and Foot Locker (FL, Financial) at 14.97% were the top gainers.
Economic reports affecting marketing trading included the following:
- The Mortgage Bankers Association’s mortgage applications index decreased -0.1% for the week.
- Jobless claims increased to 224,000 from 221,000.
- Durable goods orders decreased -4.4% in October.
- The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index decreased to 97.5 in November from 98.6.
- Existing home sales increased 1.4% in October to 5.22 million.
- The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Indicators Index increased 0.1% in October.
- The Baker Hughes North American rig count increased to 1,283 from 1,279.
- Mortgage rates were lower according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.81%, decreasing from 4.94%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.24%, decreasing from 4.36%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average the following stocks led gains:
- Nike (NKE, Financial) 1.97%
- Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) 1.64%
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) 1.54%
- Chevron (CVX, Financial) 1.44%
- IBM (IBM, Financial) 1.40%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,488.04 for a gain of 19.04 points or 1.30%. The S&P 600 closed at 937.33 for a gain of 9.00 points or 0.97%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,234.11 for a gain of 127.39 points or 1.40%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,536.11 for a gain of 72.88 points or 0.77%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,828.07 for a gain of 20.15 points or 1.11%; the S&P 100 at 1,172.67 for a gain of 2.73 points or 0.23%; the Russell 3000 at 1,564.08 for a gain of 8.66 points or 0.56%; the Russell 1000 at 1,466.45 for a gain of 7.29 points or 0.50%; the Wilshire 5000 at 2,7346.90 for a gain of 143.97 points or 0.53%; and the Dow Jones US Select Dividend Index at 679.65 for a loss of -1.34 points or -0.20%.
