The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,728.15 on Thursday with a gain of 372.68 points or 1.41%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,976.00 for a gain of 38.22 points or 1.30%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 8,116.83 for a gain of 139.95 points or 1.75%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 16.17 for a loss of 1.16 points or -6.69%.
Thursday’s market movers
U.S. indexes gained Thursday with a positive labor market outlook and news that the U.S. and China would be negotiating on trade in October. U.S officials announced plans to hold trade talks in Washington D.C. in early October.
ADP’s private sector employment report beat expectations with new payrolls of 195,000 in August, exceeding the forecast of 145,000. Investors are also expecting a strong report on total payrolls Friday with an estimate of 151,000 new jobs.
Investors were also watching Federal Reserve sentiment as its next meeting is planned for Sept.17. The Wall Street Journal released a report with expectations for a 25 basis point rate cut in September after citing interviews with officials along with a roundup of Fed comments. The Fed’s media blackout period begins on Sept. 7.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- The ADP private sector employment report showed 195,000 new payrolls in August.
- Jobless claims increased to 217,000 from 216,000.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Productivity and Costs report showed nonfarm productivity increasing 2.3% in the second quarter following an increase of 3.5%. Unit labor costs increased 2.6% in the second quarter following an increase of 5.7%.
- The Markit Composite PMI decreased to 50.7 in August from 52.6.
- The Markit Services PMI decreased to 50.7 from 53.
- The ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI increased to 56.4 in August from 53.7. Separately, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Business Activity Index increased to 61.5 from 53.1, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Employment Index decreased to 53.1 from 56.2, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Prices Index increased to 58.2 from 56.5 and the ISM Non-Manufacturing New Orders Index increased to 60.3 from 54.1.
- Factory orders increased 1.4% in July following an increase of 0.5%. Factory orders excluding transportation increased 0.3% following a decrease of -0.1%.
- The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 2.025% and eight-week bills at a rate of 1.96%.
- Mortgage rates were lower according to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.49%, decreasing from 3.58%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.00%, decreasing from 3.06%.
In the S&P 500, the technology, financials and consumer discretionary sectors led gains. In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
- IBM (IBM, Financial) 3.41%
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) 3.27%
- Goldman Sachs (GS, Financial) 2.64%
- 3M (MMM, Financial) 2.60%
- Intel (INTC, Financial) 2.41%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,510.75 for a gain of 25.99 points or 1.75%. The S&P 600 closed at 932.40 for a gain of 17.93 points or 1.96%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 9,826.93 for a gain of 155.09 points or 1.60%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 9,198.10 for a gain of 143.91 points or 1.59%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,912.63 for a gain of 31.69 points or 1.68%; the S&P 100 at 1,315.51 for a gain of 17.98 points or 1.39%; the Nasdaq 100 at 7,862.54 for a gain of 143.29 points or 1.86%; the Russell 3000 at 1,742.90 for a gain of 22.78 points or 1.32%; the Russell 1000 at 1,645.32 for a gain of 21.04 points or 1.30%; the Wilshire 5000 at 30,395.32 for a gain of 398.36 points or 1.33%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 708.51 for a gain of 6.01 points or 0.86%.
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