The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 27649.78 on Wednesday with a gain of 146.97 points or 0.53%. The S&P 500 closed at 3112.76 for a gain of 19.56 points or 0.63%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 8566.67 for a gain of 46.03 points or 0.54%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 14.80 for a loss of 1.16 points or -7.27%.
Wednesday’s market movers
U.S. indexes rallied Wednesday after U.S. negotiators reported a China trade deal could potentially be achieved by December 15. Energy, financial and healthcare stocks led gains in the S&P 500. The technology sector was also in the spotlight with a battle over new digital services taxes. France has imposed a 3% digital services tax on U.S. companies and the U.K. is threatening a 2% tax.
Economic reports showed mixed results Wednesday. The following reports were released:
- The MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased 9.2% following an increase of 1.5%. The MBA’s average 30-year mortgage rate remained at 3.97%.
- The ADP private sector employment report showed an increase of 67,000 in November, below expectations of approximately 145,000 and below the previous gain of 121,000.
- The Markit Composite PMI increased to 52.0 in November from 50.9.
- The Markit Services PMI increased to 51.6 in November from 50.6.
- The ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI decreased to 53.9 in November from 54.7. Separately, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Employment Index increased to 55.5 from 53.7, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Business Activity Index decreased to 51.6 from 57.0, The ISM Non-Manufacturing Prices Index increased to 58.5 from 56.6 and the ISM Non-Manufacturing New Orders Index increased to 57.1 from 55.6.
- The EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status report showed a decrease of 4.856 million barrels in inventory following an increase of 1.572 million barrels.
- Motor vehicle sales increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17.1 million in November, up from 16.5 million.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
- JPMorgan (JPM, Financial) 1.97%
- Goldman Sachs (GS, Financial) 1.74%
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Financial) 1.62%
- Merck (MRK, Financial) 1.48%
- Nike (NKE, Financial) 1.36%
- Procter & Gamble (PG, Financial) 1.29%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1613.90 for a gain of 11.27 points or 0.70%. The S&P 600 closed at 985.29 for a gain of 7.78 points or 0.80%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 10318.93 for a gain of 72.13 points or 0.70%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 9638.11 for a gain of 71.21 points or 0.74%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,999.53 for a gain of 15.61 points or 0.79%; the S&P 100 at 1,386.45 for a gain of 8.69 points or 0.63%; the Nasdaq 100 at 8,296.53 for a gain of 41.79 points or 0.51%; the Russell 3000 at 1,825.48 for a gain of 11.08 points or 0.61%; the Russell 1000 at 1,720.93 for a gain of 10.33 points or 0.60%; the Wilshire 5000 at 31,829.86 for a gain of 192.52 points or 0.61%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 732.03 for a gain of 3.98 points or 0.55%.
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