U.S. Market Indexes Higher Despite Global Challenges

U.S. market indexes ended the day higher on Thursday despite global challenges. For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 17,838.56 for a gain of 48.89 points or 0.27 percent. The S&P 500 was also higher, closing at 2105.26 for a gain of 5.93 points or 0.28 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 4971.36 for a gain of 19.11 points or 0.39 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 13.71 for a loss of -0.49 points or -3.45 percent.

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Source: DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Google Finance.

Thursday’s Market Movers

A number of global challenges affected market trading on Thursday. The European Central Bank kept its interest rate at zero as it continues to ease policy measures and spur stimulus in the Eurozone. OPEC met in Austria with no resolution on oil supply caps which will continue to pressure oil prices to the downside.

In the U.S., the private sector ADP employment report showed an increase of 173,000 jobs which was below consensus of 175,000 however higher than the previous month’s 166,000. Jobless claims were lower by 1,000 which followed last week’s decrease of 10,000. Crude oil inventories also reported on Thursday were down slightly at -1.4 million barrels.

Stocks trading actively for the day included Bank of America, Baxalta Inc., Oracle Corp., Apple Inc., Chesapeake Energy Corp., Ford Motor Co., Micron Technology Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, stocks leading gains and losses included the following:

Gains

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. 2.51 percent

Caterpillar Inc. 1.88 percent

Johnson & Johnson 1.42 percent

UnitedHealth Group Inc. 1.11 percent

Visa Inc. 0.91 percent

Losses

Nike Inc -0.47 percent

Chevron Corp. -0.64 percent

Microsoft Corp. -0.72 percent

Apple Inc. -0.73 percent

Exxon Mobil Corp. -0.81 percent

Top sectors for the broad market included healthcare and consumer discretionary. Sectors leading losses for the day included energy and technology. In commodities, gold traded lower as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a loss of -0.21 percent or -0.24 points. The dollar was higher for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.12 points or 0.13 percent to 95.54.

Small-Cap Stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 followed the day’s trend higher closing at 1169.05 for a gain of 6.01 points or 0.52 percent. The S&P 600 closed at 713.22 for a gain of 3.11 points or 0.44 percent. The DJ Small-Cap Growth TSM closed at 7205.86 for a gain of 57.12 points or 0.80 percent. The DJ Small-Cap Value TSM closed at 8369.92 for a gain of 41.53 points or 0.50 percent.

Other Notable Indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index which closed at 1505.89 for a gain of 7.37 points or 0.49 percent; the S&P 100 which closed at 929.94 for a gain of 1.84 points or 0.20 percent; the Russell 3000 which closed at 1241.69 for a gain of 3.13 points or 0.25 percent; the Nasdaq 100 which closed at 4531.35 for a gain of 11.28 points or 0.25 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index which closed at 594.89 for a gain of 1.49 points or 0.25 percent.