U.S. Market Indexes Gain with Help from Technology Stocks
U.S. market indexes gained on Thursday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18212.48 for a gain of 177.71 points or 0.99 percent. The S&P 500 was also higher, closing at 2147.26 for a gain of 21.49 points or 1.01 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5249.69 for a gain of 75.92 points or 1.47 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 16.30 for a loss of -1.84 points or -10.14 percent.
Thursday’s Market Movers
Leading reports on the economic calendar included jobless claims, the Producer Price Index, Retail Sales and Industrial Production. Jobless claims increased by 1,000 for the week. The Producer Price Index showed a 1 percent increase in prices on an annual basis. The Producer Price Index excluding food, energy and trade increased by 1.2 percent annually. Retail sales were slightly lower than expected with a decrease of -0.3 percent versus consensus of 0 percent. Retail sales minus autos were down -0.1 percent versus consensus of 0.3 percent. Industrial Production was down -0.4 percent versus consensus of -0.2 percent.
Stocks gained on Thursday despite the day’s economic reports as momentum in technology stock valuations led the market higher.
Stocks trading actively for the day included the following:
Apple
Bank of America
Wells Fargo
Ford
Chesapeake Energy
General Electric
Microsoft
Cisco
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average the following stocks led gains for the day:
Apple Inc 3.40
Intel Corp 2.64
Merck & Co Inc 1.68
Microsoft Corp 1.65
In the broad market technology stocks were higher. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5249.69 for a gain 1.47 percent. The Nasdaq 100 was higher at 4819.90 for a gain of 1.56 percent. Stocks leading gains for the day included the following:
Liberty Media Group 6.68
Skyworks Solutions 6.38
NVIDIA 3.79
DISH Network 3.50
Apple 3.40
In commodities, Gold traded higher as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a loss of -0.81 points or -0.64 percent. The dollar was lower for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index was down -0.07 points or -0.07 percent to 95.27.
Small-Cap Stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index was higher at 1227.02 for a gain of 15.43 points or 1.27 percent. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index was higher at 741.61 for a gain of 9.33 points or 1.27 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index was higher at 7485.45 for a gain of 95.88 points or 1.30 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index was higher at 8566.76 for a gain of 85.01 points or 1.00 percent.
Other Notable Indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1528.69 for a gain of 15.91 points or 1.05 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 952.60 for a gain of 9.31 points or 0.99 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1270.40 for again of 12.90 points or 1.03 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1189.82 for a gain of 11.85 points or 1.01 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 605.78 for a gain of 4.94 points or 0.82 percent.
