U.S. Market Indexes Lower as Rates Could Rise
U.S. market indexes were lower on Friday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18552.57 for a loss of -45.13 points or -0.24 percent. The S&P 500 was also lower at 2183.87 for a loss of -3.15 points or -0.14 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 5238.38 for a loss of -1.77 points or -0.03 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 11.42 for a loss of -0.01 points or -0.09 percent.
Friday’s Market Movers
On Friday the only economic report was the Baker-Hughes Rig Count. The Baker-Hughes Rig Count showed an increase of five rigs in North America. In the U.S., the rig count increased by 10. In Canada the rig count decreased by five. Oil prices were steady for the day. WTI crude oil increased 0.37 percent to $48.40. Brent crude decreased just slightly to $50.72, down 0.33 percent.
Stocks were just slightly lower Friday as oil was stable and investors considered the affects of a rate increase in 2016. Next week’s Jackson Hole, Monetary Policy Symposium will be a key indicator for stocks as Janet Yellen and other economic officials speak about monetary policy.
Stocks trading actively for the day on Friday included the following:
Bank of America
Applied Materials
Chesapeake Energy
AT&T
EMC
Deere & Co.
Apple
Cisco Systems
Ford
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks leading losses for the day included the following:
Losses (percent)
Wal-Mart -2.03
McDonald’s -1.79
Exxon -1.22
Chevron -1.2
IBM -0.84
Sectors leading losses in the broad market Friday included utilities and energy. The S&P 500 technology sector was higher for the day. Technology stocks leading gains included the following:
Gains (percent)
Liberty Media Corp 9.53
Applied Materials Inc 7.08
Symantec Corp 2.64
NetApp Inc 2.45
JD.com Inc ADR 2.01
Liberty Global PLC Class B 1.9
Western Digital Corp 1.72
Viacom Inc B 1.52
In commodities, gold traded lower as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a loss of -1.15 points or -0.89 percent. The dollar was mostly higher for the day, gaining against the euro and pound.
Small-Cap Stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index was lower at 1236.77 for a loss of -0.08 points or -0.01 percent. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index was higher at 748.85 for a gain of 0.04 points or 0.01 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index was higher at 7556.85 for a gain of 3.69 points or 0.05 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index was lower at 8738.83 for a loss of -16.44 points or -0.19 percent.
Other Notable Indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index which closed at 1562.80 for a gain of 1.28 points or 0.08 percent; the S&P 100 Index which closed at 964.80 for a loss of -2.28 points or -0.24 percent; the Russell 3000 Index which closed at 1290.59 for a loss of -1.68 points or -0.13 percent; the Russell 1000 Index which closed at 1209.50 for a loss of -1.70 points or -0.14 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index which closed at 620.85 for a loss of -3.85 points or -0.62 percent.
