U.S. market indexes reached new highs on Thursday as stocks continued to gain. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18506.41 for a gain of 134.29 points or 0.73 percent. The S&P 500 was also higher, closing at 2163.75 for a gain of 11.32 points or 0.53 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5034.06 for a gain of 28.33 points or 0.57 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was lower for the day at 12.81 for a loss of -0.23 points or -1.76 percent.

Thursday’s Market Movers

 On Thursday, the two leading economic reports were Jobless Claims and the Producer Price Index. Jobless claims were unchanged for the week, keeping the total number of claims at 254,000. The Producer Price Index was slightly higher for the month, increasing 0.5 percent, which was above consensus of 0.3 percent. The year-over-year Producer Price Index inflation level is at 0.3 percent.

Stocks continued to reach new highs on Thursday with a continued positive earnings outlook and a substantial earnings beat from JPMorgan. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 reached a new high.

Stocks trading actively on Thursday with gains included the following:

Gains (percent)

Bank of America 1.60

Chesapeake Energy 2.99

Apple 1.97

Citigroup 2.68

General Electric 0.85

Kinder Morgan 3.22

JPMorgan 1.84

Ford 1.02

Intel 0.50

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:

Gains (percent)

Goldman Sachs 2.93

Apple 1.97

Pfizer 1.69

JPMorgan 1.55

IBM 1.37

Top sectors for the broad market were financial, materials, industrial and technology. In technology, the Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5034.06 for a gain of 28.33 points or 0.57 percent. The Nasdaq 100 was also higher at 4596.31 for a gain of 30.54 points or 0.67 percent. Stocks leading in the technology sector for the day included the following:

Gains (percent)

Liberty Media 8.33

Liberty Interactive 4.72

American Airlines 4.15

eBay Inc. 3.82

Liberty Global 3.75

In commodities, gold traded lower as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a loss of -0.99 points or -0.77 percent. The dollar was lower for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index was down -0.20 points or -0.21 percent to 96.11.

Small-Cap Stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 was higher at 1202.17 for a gain of 1.01 points or 0.08 percent. The S&P 600 closed at 739.46 for a gain of 0.18 points or 0.02 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index was higher at 7325.13 for a gain of 9.65 points or 0.13 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 8655.95 for a gain of 3.96 points or 0.05 percent.

Other Notable Indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index which closed at 1544.06 for a gain of 3.37 points or 0.22 percent; the S&P 100 closing at 956.63 for a gain of 5.61 points or 0.59 percent; the Russell 3000 Index closing at 1276.03 for a gain of 5.88 points or 0.46 percent; the Russell 1000 Index closing at 1197.51 for a gain of 5.88 points or 0.49 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closing at 623.86 for a gain of 0.29 points or 0.05 percent.