U.S. Market Indexes Flat as GDP Data Disappoints
U.S. market indexes were flat on Friday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18432.24 for a loss of -24.11 or -0.13 percent. The S&P 500 was higher, closing at 2173.60 for a gain of 3.54 points or 0.16 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5162.13 for a gain of 7.15 points or 0.14 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 11.99 for a loss of -0.73 points or -5.74 percent.
Friday’s Market Movers
The leading economic report for the day was the GDP report. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released its first estimate of second quarter GDP which showed GDP increasing at a rate of 1.2 percent SAAR. This was above the previous quarter’s report of 0.8 percent but below consensus which had hoped for 2.6 percent. The second leading economic report for the day was the Consumer Sentiment Report. The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Report showed consumer sentiment improving but falling just below consensus. The reading for the month was 90 following the previous month’s 89.5 and below consensus of 90.6.
Stocks trading actively for the day included the following: KeyCorp, Bank of America, Ford, Chesapeake Energy, General Electric, Facebook, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft and Regions Financial.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, stocks leading losses for the day included the following:
Losses (percent)
McDonald’s Corp -1.48
Visa Inc Class A -1.44
Exxon Mobil Corp -1.39
The Travelers Companies Inc -1.18
Goldman Sachs Group Inc -1.07
American Express Co -0.51
International Business Machines Corp -0.46
Sectors leading gains in the broad market included energy, utilities and consumer staples. Technology was also higher for the day. On Friday, the following stocks led gains in the technology sector:
Gains (percent)
Liberty Media 5.8
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc 3.43
Alphabet Inc 3.36
Liberty Global PLC C 2.42
SBA Communications Corp 2.24
Tesla Motors Inc 1.81
In commodities, gold traded higher as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a gain of 1.28 points or 1.00 percent. The dollar was lower for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index was at 95.57 for a loss of -1.09 points or -1.13 percent.
Small-Cap Stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index was higher at 1219.94 for a gain of 2.62 points or 0.22 percent. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index was higher at 743.98 for a gain of 1.12 points or 0.15 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index was higher at 7455.32 for a gain of 23.70 points or 0.32 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index was higher at 8748.78 for a gain of 31.14 points or 0.36 percent.
Other Notable Indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index higher at 1559.46 for a gain of 6.02 points or 0.39 percent; the S&P 100 Index closing at 961.75 for a gain of 2.15 points or 0.22 percent; the Russell 3000 Index closing at 1284.27 for a gain of 2.49 points or 0.19 percent; the Russell 1000 Index closing at 1204.43 for a gain of 2.32 points or 0.19 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closing at 623.71 for a gain of 1.91 points or 0.31 percent.
