The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 23,327.46 on Monday with a gain of 265.06 points or 1.15%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,506.85 for a gain of 21.11 points or 0.85%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6,635.28 for a gain of 50.76 points or 0.77%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 25.41 for a loss of 2.93 points or -10.34%.
Monday’s market movers
The government remained partially shut down through the end of the year with Democrats taking majority of the House of Representatives when discussions reconvene on Thursday, Jan. 3. The partial shutdown and another increase in the federal funds rate in December kept markets from a Santa Claus rally, which was greatly needed to keep indexes positive for the year. Instead, all three of the major indexes closed with losses for the first time since 2015. The Dow Jones suffered the greatest loss with a -7.80% return. The S&P 500 was down -7.01% for the year and the Nasdaq reported a loss of -3.88%.
Investor buying Monday was fueled mainly by new lows and optimism for 2019. It’s likely that a political reconciliation and less aggressive Fed actions in 2019 could lead to a strong January for stocks. On Monday, the two-year Treasury yield also reported its largest monthly decrease in 10 years, which could further help the outlook for stocks.
There were no major economic reports on the calendar Monday. The Treasury held auctions for three-month, six-month and 52-week bills at the following rates: 2.465%, 2.505%, 2.545%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
The Dow’s top gainers in 2018 were:
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,348.56 for a gain of 10.64 points or 0.80%. The S&P 600 closed at 844.94 for a gain of 4.73 points or 0.56%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 8,402.41 for a gain of 78.66 points or 0.95%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 8,556.13 for a gain of 31.33 points or 0.37%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,663.04 for a gain of 16.55 points or 1.01%; the S&P 100 at 1,113.87 for a gain of 9.53 points or 0.86%; the Russell 3000 at 1,472.14 for a gain of 12.62 points or 0.86%; the Russell 1000 at 1,384.26 for a gain of 11.94 points or 0.87%; the Wilshire 5000 at 25,749.73 for a gain of 208.56 points or 0.82%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 639.07 for a gain of 3.88 points or 0.61%.
