U.S. market indexes were lower on Wednesday as uncertainty continued on a U.K. exit vote. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 17780.83 for a loss of -48.90 points or -0.27 percent. The S&P 500 was also down, closing at 2085.45 for a loss of -3.45 points or -0.17 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 4833.32 for a loss of -10.44 points or -0.22 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was higher for the day at 20.93 with a gain of 2.45 points or 13.26 percent.

Source: DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Google Finance.

Wednesday’s Market Movers

The U.K. exit vote continued to cause uncertainty in stock market trading and stocks were lower Wednesday ahead of the Thursday vote.

Janet Yellen spoke before the House Financial Services Committee in Washington. Her speech was similar to yesterday’s tone before the Senate Banking Committee. Yellen reported that the Fed would continue to focus on key factors influencing a rate increase including the labor market and inflation. These factors continue to drive the Fed’s dual mandate for promoting maximum employment and price stability which the Fed chairman reported as the continued main concerns for the Federal Open Market Committee.

Housing reports also showed mortgage applications and home prices higher. Existing-home sales were also nearly at consensus at 5.530 million SAAR with a gain of 1.8 percent for the month.

Stocks trading actively for the day with losses included Bank of America, General Electric, Apple, Microsoft, Pfizer Inc. and Frontier Communications.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, stocks leading losses included the following:

Losses (percent)

McDonald’s -1.64

Visa -1.03

Chevron -0.92

Pfizer -0.81

Travelers -0.79

IBM -0.73

Coca-Cola -0.6

American Express -0.55

General Electric -0.52

Microsoft -0.39

Sectors leading losses in the broad market included energy, utilities and technology. In technology the Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 4833.32 for a loss of -10.44 points or -0.22 percent. The Nasdaq 100 was also lower at 4404.73 for a loss of -8.68 points or -0.20 percent. Stocks leading losses in the technology sector included:

Losses (percent)

Tesla Motors -10.45

Liberty Global -10.26

Liberty Media -7.69

Adobe -5.73

Autodesk -1.19

In commodities, gold traded higher as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a gain of 0.06 points or 0.05 percent. The dollar was lower for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index was down -0.28 points or -0.30 percent at 93.79.

Small-Cap Stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed lower for the day at 1148.97 for a loss of -4.90 points or -0.42 percent. The S&P 600 closed at 705.11 for a loss of -3.17 points or -0.45 percent. The DJ Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 7047.77 for a loss of -21.66 points or -0.31 percent. The DJ Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 8305.67 for a loss of -31.08 points or -0.37 percent.

Other Notable Indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index which closed at 1491.21 for a loss of -3.46 points or -0.23 percent; the S&P 100 which closed at 920.82 for a loss of -1.23 points or -0.13 percent; the Russell 3000 which closed at 1229.64 for a loss of -2.43 points or -0.20 percent; the Russell 1000 which closed at 1154.74 for a loss of -2.07 points or -0.18 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index which closed at 599.45 for a loss of -1.34 points or -0.22 percent.