The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,862.68 on Thursday with a gain of 214.66 points or 0.84%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,876.32 for a gain of 25.36 points or 0.89%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,898.05 for a gain of 75.90 points or 0.97%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 15.32 for a loss of 1.12 points or -6.81%.
Thursday’s market movers
U.S. market indexes reported a third day of consecutive closing gains on Thursday. International trade continued to be a factor as President Trump announced an executive order giving U.S. telecom companies the ability to ban foreign telecom gear, which will heavily affect relations with China’s Huawei. Dow component Walmart (WMT, Financial) announced its first-quarter earnings before the opening bell Thursday with a gain of 1.43% for the day. The top retailer missed revenue estimates by $260 million with revenue still increasing 1% from the comparable quarter at $123.9 billion. Walmart reported non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.13, beating estimates by 11 cents and its GAAP earnings of $1.33 per share beat estimates by 31 cents.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Housing starts increased 5.7% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual average rate of 1.235 million. Building permits also increased in April, up 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual average rate of 1.296 million.
- Jobless claims decreased to 212,000 from 228,000.
- The Treasury held an auction for four-week bills at a rate of 2.365%.
- Mortgage rates were lower according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.07%, decreasing from 4.10%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.53%, decreasing from 3.57%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,557.24 for a gain of 8.97 points or 0.58%. The S&P 600 closed at 949.34 for a gain of 3.28 points or 0.35%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,909.82 for a gain of 72.39 points or 0.74%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,586.28 for a gain of 49.40 points or 0.52%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,911.41 for a gain of 11.43 points or 0.60%; the S&P 100 at 1,274.32 for a gain of 12.02 points or 0.95%; the Russell 3000 at 1,695.60 for a gain of 14.70 points or 0.87%; the Russell 1000 at 1,594.05 for a gain of 14.17 points or 0.90%; the Wilshire 5000 at 29,593.52 for a gain of 254.82 points or 0.87%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 702.40 for a gain of 2.35 points or 0.34%.
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