The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,916.00 on Thursday with a loss of 69.16 points or -0.27%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,784.49 for a loss of 7.89 points or -0.28%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,532.53 for a loss of 21.98 points or -0.29%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 14.78 for a gain of 0.08 points or 0.54%.
For the month, the Nasdaq gained 6.3%, the Dow Jones gained 5.7% and the S&P 500 gained 5.3%. Year to date, the Nasdaq has a return of 13.5%, the Dow Jones has gained 11.2% and the S&P 500 has a gain of 11.1%.
Thursday’s market movers
Stocks closed lower for a third day, but ended the month with gains. President Trump’s meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un closed Wednesday with little progress after the president refused to commit to sanction demands. Thursday’s gross domestic product report was also a slight detractor with a slowdown in GDP growth at 2.6%.
In the S&P 500, materials, energy and consumer discretionary led losses. Treasury yields were higher across the yield curve with the one-year Treasury note increasing to 2.552%. In foreign exchange, the U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.10% to 96.21.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Jobless claims increased to 225,000.
- The fourth-quarter GDP growth rate decreased to 2.6%.
- The PCE Price Index decreased to 1.5% from 1.6%.
- The Treasury held an auction for four-week bills at a rate of 2.410%.
- Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market report showed rates mostly unchanged. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.35%, unchanged from the previous week. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.77%, down from 3.78% in the previous week.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses:
- UnitedHealth (UNH, Financial) -2.92%
- DowDuPont (DWDP, Financial) -2.68%
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) -1.63%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,575.55 for a loss of 5.50 points or -0.35%. The S&P 600 closed at 973.71 for a loss of 3.18 points or -0.33%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,936.71 for a loss of 39.67 points or -0.40%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,759.03 for a loss of 26.92 points or -0.28%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,910.34 for a loss of 8.07 points or -0.42%; the S&P 100 at 1,223.55 for a loss of 4.13 points or -0.34%; the Russell 3000 at 1,649.22 for a loss of 4.94 points or -0.30%; the Russell 1000 at 1,545.73 for a loss of 4.57 points or -0.29%; the Wilshire 5000 at 28,903.29 for a loss of 87.42 points or -0.30%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 698.59 for a loss of 1.44 points or -0.21%.
