U.S. Market Indexes Higher as OPEC Reports Deal
U.S. market indexes were higher Wednesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18339.24 for a gain of 110.94 points or 0.61 percent. The S&P 500 was also higher, closing at 2171.37 for a gain of 11.44 points or 0.53 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5318.55 for a gain of 12.84 points or 0.24 percent. The VIX Volatility Index closed at 12.41 for a loss of -0.69 points or -5.27 percent.
Source: DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Google Finance.
Wednesday’s Market Movers
Reports that OPEC reached a deal at its informal meeting in Algeria helped stocks gain for the day. OPEC producers will reduce oil production to 32.5 million barrels per day.
On the economic calendar the EIA’s Petroleum Status report showed oil inventories down 1.9 million barrels per day from the previous week. Durable goods orders were also on the calendar for Wednesday and showed no change for the month and a decrease of 1.3 percent for the year.
Stocks trading actively on Wednesday included the following:
Procter & Gamble
Bank of America
Chesapeake Energy
Transocean
Nike
Apple
Ford
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:
Caterpillar 4.5
Exxon 4.4
In the broad market, energy and materials led gains. Technology was also higher. Leading technology stocks in the sector included the following:
Liberty Media 7.52
Liberty Global 6.70
In commodities, gold traded higher as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a loss of -0.40 points or -0.32 percent. The dollar was lower for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index fell -0.04 points or -0.04 percent to 95.43
Small-Cap Stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1255.67 for a loss of 9.29 points or 0.75 percent. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 758.22 for a gain of 6.88 points or 0.92 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 7632.75 for a gain of 51.38 points or 0.68 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 8778.34 for a gain of 91.82 points or 1.06 percent.
Other Notable Indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1556.95 for a gain of 12.67 points or 0.82 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 960.06 for a gain of 4.41 points or 0.46 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1286.90 for a gain of 7.26 points or 0.57 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1204.26 for a gain of 6.62 points or 0.55 percent; the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 618.73 for a gain of 4.40 points or 0.72 percent.
