U.S. market indexes were higher on Thursday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18613.52 for a gain of 117.86 points or 0.64 percent. The S&P 500 was also higher, closing at 2185.79 for a gain of 10.30 points or 0.47 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5228.40 for a gain of 23.81 points or 0.46 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 11.80 for a loss of -0.25 points or -2.07 percent.

Thursday’s Market Movers

Jobless claims and international trade prices were the leading reports on the economic calendar for Thursday. Jobless claims decreased by 1,000 to 266,000. Import and export prices were both higher in July. Import prices increased 0.1 percent and export prices increased 0.2 percent for the month. Year over year both import and export prices are down. Import prices are down 3.7 percent and export prices are down 3 percent. Also on Thursday the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index showed consumer confidence down slight. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index reading was 41.8 down from 43 in the previous month.

Stocks trading actively for the day included the following: Chesapeake Energy, Bank of America, Macy’s, Yahoo, Kohl’s, Cisco Systems, Apple, Ford and General Electric.

Retail and department store earnings are in focus in the next few days. On Thursday, Kohl’s reported its second quarter earnings, beating revenue and earnings per share estimates. Revenue of $4.18 billion, was down -2.1 percent from the comparable quarter and beat estimates by $20 million. Earnings per share of $1.22 beat estimates by $0.19.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average only Microsoft was higher in trading for the day and the top five losers were:

Gains (percent)
Nike Inc B            2.9
Merck & Co Inc  1.58
Chevron Corp    1.26
3M Co   1.22
American Express Co      1.14

Top sectors for the broad market were energy and consumer discretionary. Technology was also higher for the day. Technology stocks leading gains included the following:

Gains (percent)
Yahoo! Inc           3.36
Endo International PLC  3.23
Autodesk Inc      2.34
Fastenal Co         2.28
American Airlines Group Inc        2.28
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A        2.27
Netflix Inc            2.09
Viacom Inc B      2.08

In commodities, gold traded lower as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a loss of -0.89 points or -0.69 percent. The dollar was higher for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.34 points or 0.36 percent to close at 95.91.

Small-Cap Stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index was higher at 1229.12 for a gain of 5.84 points or 0.48 percent. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index was higher at 745.08 for a gain of 2.95 points or 0.40 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index was higher at 7503.97 for a gain of 45.08 points or 0.60 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index was higher at 8729.25 for a gain of 1.24 points or 0.01 percent.

Other Notable Indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index Index closing at 1560.09 for a gain of 3.11 points or 0.20 percent; the S&P 100 Index closing at 967.66 for a gain of 3.88 points or 0.40 percent; the Russell 3000 Index closing at 1291.02 for a gain of 5.89 points or 0.46 percent; the Russell 1000 Index closing at 1210.55 for a gain of 5.50 points or 0.46 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closing at 621.99 for a gain of 2.65 points or 0.43 percent.