U.S. market indexes finished higher on Wednesday after a slow start to the week. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18355.00 for a gain of 41.23 points or 0.23 percent. The S&P 500 was also higher, closing at 2163.79 for a gain of 6.76 points or 0.31 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5159.74 for a gain of 22.00 points or 0.43 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was lower for the day at 12.78 for a loss of -0.59 points or -4.41 percent.

Wednesday’s Market Movers

The leading economic reports on the calendar for Wednesday were focused on services. The PMI Services Index was reported at 51.4 with no change from the previous month. The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index was reported at 55.5, down from the previous month’s 56.5.

Stocks trading actively for the day included the following: Bank of America, Chesapeake Energy, Ford, Pfizer, Apple, Frontier Communications Corp., Corning Inc. and Microsoft.

Tesla was in the spotlight for the day after the company reported earnings. The auto maker missed both revenue and earnings estimates for the second quarter. Revenue was up 30 percent at 1.56 billion, missing estimates by $60 million. Earnings per share missed estimates by $0.54 at -$1.06. The company also reported that it is continuing with plans to buy SolarCity. For the day the stock was down 1 percent.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, stocks leading gains including the following:

Gains (percent)
JPMorgan Chase & Co    1.59
Goldman Sachs Group Inc             1.46
Apple Inc             1.27
Walt Disney Co  1.14
Chevron Corp    1.02

In the broad market, sectors leading gains included energy, financial, industrial and technology. In technology the following stocks led gains for the day:

Gains (percent)
Cerner Corp        7.02
Endo International PLC  6.43
DISH Network Corp         4.33
Mylan NV            4.04
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc        3.03
Liberty Global PLC C        2.81

In commodities, gold traded lower as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a loss of -0.62 points or -0.48 percent. The dollar was higher for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.46 points or 0.48 percent to reach 95.56.

Small-Cap Stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index was higher at 1212.73 for a gain of 10.38 points or 0.86 percent. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 736.52 for a gain of 4.02 points or 0.55 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 7409.02 for a gain of 58.97 points or 0.80 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 8670.82 for a gain of 56.90 points or 0.66 percent.

Other Notable Indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closing at 1546.64 for a gain of 9.35 points or 0.61 percent; the S&P 100 Index closing at 958.83 for a gain of 1.71 points or 0.18 percent; the Russell 3000 Index closing at 1277.97 for a gain of 4.97 points or 0.39 percent; the Russell 1000 Index closing at 1198.62 for a gain of 4.20 points or 0.35 percent; the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closing at 618.07 for a gain of 0.62 points or 0.10 percent.