The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,999.67 on Thursday with a loss of 15.19 points or -0.06%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,704.10 with a gain of 23.05 points or 0.86%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,281.74 for a gain of 98.66 points or 1.37%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 16.62 for a loss of 1.04 points or -5.89%.
Thursday’s market movers
The Federal Reserve’s Wednesday announcement to hold rates steady and proceed with patience helped to continue an equity market rally. Tech stocks led indexes mostly higher Thursday. The Nasdaq gained 1.37% with Facebook (FB, Financial) posting an 11.10% return after beating earnings estimates. FAANG stock Amazon (AMZN, Financial) is also scheduled to report earnings after the market’s close.
Internationally, investors were also watching trade negotiations with China at the White House, which ended Thursday. Headlines were mostly optimistic as the two sides moved toward a more formal meeting between Trump and China’s Xi Jinping.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Jobless claims increased to 253,000 from 200,000.
- New home sales increased 16.9% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 657,000.
- The Treasury held an auction for four-week bills at a rate of 2.390% .
- Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey showed mortgage rates increasing. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.46%, increasing from 4.45%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.89%, increasing from 3.88%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains and losses:
- Pfizer (PFE, Financial) 2.98%
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) 2.34%
- DowDuPont (DWDP, Financial) -9.23%
- Goldman Sachs (GS, Financial) -2.21%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,499.42 for a gain of 12.48 points or 0.84%. The S&P 600 closed at 934.12 for a gain of 7.83 points or 0.85%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,427.57 for a gain of 82.01 points or 0.88%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,504.02 for a gain of 48.07 points or 0.51%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,835.39 for a gain of 8.18 points or 0.45%; the S&P 100 at 1,191.68 for a gain of 11.12 points or 0.94%; the Russell 3000 at 1,596.57 for a gain of 13.53 points or 0.85%; the Russell 1000 at 1,498.39 for a gain of 12.72 points or 0.86%; the Wilshire 5000 at 27,992.43 for a gain of 250.89 points or 0.90%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 681.52 for a gain of 8.49 points or 1.26%.
