U.S. Market Indexes Gain with Positive Economic Momentum
U.S. market indexes were higher Friday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18308.15 for a gain of 164.70 points or 0.91 percent. The S&P 500 was also lower, closing at 2168.27 for a gain of 17.14 points or 0.80 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5312.00 for a gain of 42.85 points or 0.81 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 13.14 for a loss of 0.88 points or -6.28 percent.
Source: DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Google Finance.
Friday’s Market Movers
Stocks were higher Friday after Thursday’s positive GDP and corporate profits report with Deutsche Bank becoming less of a factor. It seems Deutsche Bank’s settlement will be approximately $5.4 billion, down from the previously estimated $14 billion.
On the economic calendar Friday were the following reports: Consumer Sentiment, Personal Income and Outlays and the Baker Hughes Rig Count. The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index increased to 91.2 from 90.1. The Personal Income and Outlays report showed personal income increasing by 0.2 percent. The PCE Price Index showed annual inflation of 1 percent and the Core PCE Price Index increased 1.7 percent annually.
The Baker Hughes Rig Count reported an increase of 35 oil rigs in North America. In the U.S. the rig count increased by 11 and in Canada the rig count increased by 24. Oil prices ended the day with small gains. WTI crude was up 0.33 percent to $47.99. Brent crude increased 0.34 percent to $49.98.
Stocks trading actively for the day included the following:
Procter & Gamble
Bank of America
Chesapeake Energy
Wells Fargo
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.
Apple
Ford
General Electric
Qualcomm
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average the following stocks led gains:
Wal-Mart 1.97
Procter & Gamble 1.72
Pfizer 1.65
Chevron 1.63
Caterpillar 1.49
Goldman Sachs 1.46
JPMorgan 1.43
Financials, energy and healthcare were the top sectors for the broad market. Technology stocks in the S&P 500 gained 0.53 percent. The Nasdaq 100 closed at 4875.70 for a gain of 0.77 percent. Stocks leading in the technology sector included the following:
Liberty Media Group 7.52
NXP Semiconductors 6.13
Skyworks Solutions Inc. 3.93
Liberty Global Group 3.74
In commodities, gold traded lower as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a loss of -0.43 points or -0.34 percent. The dollar was lower for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index was down -0.09 points or -0.09 percent to 95.44.
Small-Cap Stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1251.65 for a gain of 13.90 points or 1.12 percent. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 756.90 for a gain of 7.92 points or 1.06 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 7616.84 for a gain of 85.83 points or 1.14 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 8751.50 for a gain of 70.68 points or 0.81 percent.
Other Notable Indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closing at 1552.26 for a gain of 12.69 points or 0.82 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 958.68 for a gain of 7.76 points or 0.82 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1284.60 for a gain of 10.32 points or 0.81 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1202.25 for a gain of 9.36 points or 0.78 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 614.78 for a gain of 2.82 points or 0.46 percent.
