Tech Gains Thursday, Dow Closes Lower After 3M Earnings

Nasdaq up 0.21%

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Apr 25, 2019
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,462.08 on Thursday with a loss of 134.97 points or -0.51%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,926.17 for a loss of 1.08 points or -0.04%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 8,118.68 for a gain of 16.67 points or 0.21%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 13.15 for a gain of 0.01 points or 0.08%.

Thursday’s market movers

Stocks opened the morning following trends from Asia and digesting disappointing earnings from Dow component 3M (MMM, Financial). China’s Shanghai Index fell 2.4% as an end to further stimulus measures cooled risk appetite. Japan’s Nikkei gained slightly with a 0.5% return on some economic improvements and negotiations in place with the U.S. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are in Japan for trade negotiations ahead of a meeting scheduled between Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Donald Trump later this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.51% following 3M’s before market earnings report. 3M missed revenue estimates by $160 million with revenue down 5.1% from the comparable quarter. 3M’s non-GAAP earnings per share missed estimates by 27 cents. The company also decreased its full-year 2019 guidance and announced a reduction of 2,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, tech stocks gained with momentum from strong earnings at Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) and Facebook (FB, Financial). Microsoft’s market cap reached $1 trillion on Thursday and Facebook closed with a gain of 5.83%. Other notable companies with earnings reports on Thursday included Amazon (AMZN, Financial), Intel (INTC, Financial), Starbucks (SBUX, Financial), Ford (F, Financial), Comcast (CMCSA, Financial) and UPS (UPS, Financial).

Investors were also looking ahead to Friday’s gross domestic product report. GDP is expected to increase 2% from the fourth quarter following a previous quarterly increase of 2.2%.

Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:

  • Durable goods orders increased 2.7% in March after a 1.1% decrease. Durable goods orders, excluding defense, increased 2.3%. Durable goods orders, excluding transportation, increased 0.4%.
  • Jobless claims increased to 230,000 from 193,000.
  • The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 2.39% and seven-year notes at a rate of 2.426%.
  • Mortgage rates were higher according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.20%, increasing from 4.17%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.64%, increasing from 3.62%.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses:

Small-cap stocks

In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,575.64 for a loss of 12.50 points or -0.79%. The S&P 600 closed at 964.06 for a loss of 9.79 points or -1.01%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 10,028.14 for a loss of 80.34 points or -0.79%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,693.97 for a loss of 87.59 points or -0.90%.

Other notable indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,955.13 for a loss of 22.54 points or -1.14%; the S&P 100 at 1,298.55 for a gain of 1.53 points or 0.12%; the Russell 3000 at 1,723.17 for a loss of 2.35 points or -0.14%; the Russell 1000 at 1,620.50 for a loss of 1.41 points or -0.09%; the Wilshire 5000 at 30,208.64 for a loss of 38.67 points or -0.13%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 714.97 for a loss of 3.00 points or -0.42%.

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