The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,962.51 on Thursday with a gain of 216.84 points or 0.84%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,854.88 for a gain of 30.65 points or 1.09%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,838.96 for a gain of 109.99 points or 1.42%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 13.63 for a loss of 0.28 points or -2.01%.
Thursday’s market movers
Wednesday's rate hold helped improve risk appetite for stocks. The tech-focused Nasdaq led gains while both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 regained all of Wednesday's losses. Levi Strauss (LEVI, Financial) made headlines with its initial public offering and gain of 31.82% to $22.41. In Treasuries, yields were mixed with yield decreases primarily in six-month, one-year and 30-year securities.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Jobless claims decreased to 221,000 from 230,000.
- The Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators Index increased 0.2% in February.
- The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 2.470% and 10-year TIPS at a rate of 0.578%.
- Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage market survey showed mortgage rates moving lower. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.28%, falling from 4.31%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.71%, falling from 3.76%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
- Apple (AAPL, Financial) 4.21%
- Travelers (TRV, Financial) 2.18%
- Home Depot (HD, Financial) 1.92%
- Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) 1.91%
- Intel (INTC, Financial) 1.91%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,561.95 for a gain of 18.79 points or 1.22%. The S&P 600 closed at 952.44 for a gain of 12.16 points or 1.29%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,926.21 for a gain of 137.67 points or 1.41%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,479.01 for a gain of 83.74 points or 0.89%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,908.36 for a gain of 25.04 points or 1.33%; the S&P 100 at 1,263.06 for a gain of 11.80 points or 0.94%; the Russell 3000 at 1,684.40 for a gain of 19.15 points or 1.15%; the Russell 1000 at 1,582.31 for a gain of 17.87 points or 1.14%; the Wilshire 5000 at 29,530.24 for a gain of 329.69 points or 1.13%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 705.47 for a gain of 8.28 points or 1.19%.
