U.S. Market Indexes Continue Losses on Wednesday

U.S. market indexes continued to post losses on Wednesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 17,651.61 for a loss of -99.30 points or -0.56 percent. The S&P 500 was also lower, closing at 2,051.16 for a loss of -12.21 points or -0.59 percent.

Economic Reports

Following a first quarter report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis which showed a 0.5 percent increase in GDP, the economic indicators in May are looking much weaker. The ADP private sector jobs report for the month was below consensus. With employment being one of the leading indicators of economic direction, the lower report could cause lower outlooks for the year resulting in continued losses and possible affects on the Federal Reserve’s plans for an interest rate increase. Oil inventories were higher for the week as oil prices remain low. Mortgage applications were also lower as rates begin to rise.

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Daily Market Movers

A number of companies reported earnings Wednesday including Time Warner, Delphi Automotive, Kraft Heinz, Tesla Motors and 21st Century Fox.

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Time Warner beat the market’s earnings expectation in its Wednesday report. The entertainment conglomerate reported on target revenue at $7.3 billion, up 2.4 percent from the comparable quarter. First quarter earnings per share were $1.49, beating analysts’ estimates by $0.19.

Leading portfolio holding of Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway, Kraft Heinz will report earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday. Revenue is estimated at $4.7 billion and earnings per share from the comparable quarter were $0.80. Investors will be watching for value gains from synergies after the recent merger.

Large-cap stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average reported mixed returns for the day. McDonald’s and Procter and Gamble led gains while Caterpillar and General Electric led losses. In the broad market utilities sector stocks led gains while energy sector stocks led losses.

Technology

The Nasdaq Composite closed lower for the day at 4,725.64 for a loss of -37.58 points or -0.79 percent. Apple and Cisco were the two most actively traded technology stocks. Seagate Technology led gains for the day while Micron Technology led losses.

Small-Cap Stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 followed the day’s trend lower closing at 1,115.18 for a loss of -6.57 points or -0.59 percent. The S&P 600 closed at 686.28 for a loss of -3.81 points or -0.55 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 6,821.24 for a loss of -71.36 points or -1.04 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM closed at 8,116.62 for a loss of -10.51 points or -0.13 percent.

Other Notable Indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index which closed at 1,449.25 for a loss of -5.05 points or -0.35 percent; the Russell 3000 which closed at 1,207.46 for a loss of -7.35 points or -0.61 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index which closed at 585.33 for a loss of -0.78 points or -0.13 percent.