The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 27,222.97 on Thursday with a gain of 3.12 points or 0.01%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,995.11 for a gain of 10.69 points or 0.36%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 8,207.24 for a gain of 22.04 points or 0.27%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 13.53 for a loss of 0.44 points or -3.15%.
Thursday’s market movers
U.S. indexes regained some ground on Thursday after two days of losses. Investors were encouraged by comments from the Federal Reserve’s Williams, which supported a near-term federal funds rate decrease. Financials were also higher after a positive report from Morgan Stanley (MS, Financial) and strong earnings reports from the big banks overall this week. Morgan Stanley was the last of the big banks to report second-quarter earnings, releasing results on Thursday. The company beat revenue estimates and beat earnings per share estimates by 7 cents.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Jobless claims increased to 216,000 from 208,000.
- The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Indicators Index decreased 0.3% in June.
- The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 2.090%, eight-week bills at a rate of 2.120% and 10-Year TIPS at a rate of 0.282%.
- Mortgage rates were higher according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.81%, increasing from 3.75%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.23%, increasing from 3.22%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,555.62 for a gain of 4.85 points or 0.31%. The S&P 600 closed at 942.66 for a gain of 1.78 points or 0.19%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 10,047.76 for a gain of 34.51 points or 0.34%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 9,509.22 for a gain of 31.34 points or 0.33%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,943.60 for a gain of 6.13 points or 0.32%; the S&P 100 at 1,323.72 for a gain of 3.87 points or 0.29%; the Nasdaq 100 at 7,904.13 for a gain of 15.37 points or 0.19%; the Russell 3000 at 1,760.16 for a gain of 6.16 points or 0.35%; the Russell 1000 at 1,659.38 for a gain of 5.86 points or 0.35%; the Wilshire 5000 at 30,688.97 for a gain of 105.11 points or 0.34%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 719.76 for a gain of 3.65 points or 0.51%.
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