U.S. Market Indexes Lower as Stocks Resist New Highs

U.S. market indexes were lower on Thursday as stocks resisted new highs. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 17985.19 for a loss of -19.86 points or -0.11 percent. The S&P 500 was also down, closing at 2115.48 for a loss of -3.64 points or -0.17 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 4958.62 for a loss of -16.03 points or -0.32 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was higher for the day at 14.55 with a gain of 0.47 points or 3.34 percent.

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

Thursday’s Market Movers

Thursday’s economic reports were mainly positive. The jobless claims report showed claims down 4,000 from the previous week. Wholesale inventories were higher by 0.6 percent from the previous month which is positive for GDP. Mortgage rates reported by Freddie Mac were also lower as rate expectations remain subdued. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average for the week fell to 3.60 percent. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage average for the week was also lower at 2.87 percent.

Stocks trading actively with end of day losses included Bank of America Corp., Chesapeake Energy, General Electric and Microsoft.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gains and losses were led by the following:

Gains

Nike 1.52 percent

Johnson & Johnson 1.04 percent

Verizon Communications 0.83 percent

Apple 0.72 percent

Procter & Gamble 0.63 percent

Losses

JPMorgan -0.77 percent

Microsoft -0.81 percent

American Express -0.83 percent

Goldman Sachs -0.95 percent

Caterpillar -1.22 percent

Sectors leading losses included energy and financial. In the technology sector, the Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 4958.62 for a loss of -16.03 points or -0.32 percent. The Nasdaq 100 was also lower, closing at 4512.69 for a loss of -7.94 points or -0.18 percent. In the technology sector losses were led by the following:

Tesla Motors -2.62 percent

Discovery Communications -2.53 percent

Liberty Global -2.35 percent

In commodities, gold traded higher as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a gain of 0.67 points or 0.56 percent. The dollar was higher for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.53 points or 0.57 percent to close at 94.07.

Small-Cap Stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 followed the day’s trend lower closing at 1181.20 for a loss of -7.75 points or -0.65 percent. The S&P 600 closed at 722.51 for a loss of -3.87 points or -0.53 percent. The DJ Small-Cap Growth TSM closed at 7255.61 for a loss of -53.35 points or -0.73 percent. The DJ Small-Cap Value TSM closed at 8475.93 for a loss of -31.75 points or -0.37 percent.

Other Notable Indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index which closed at 1520.98 for a loss of -4.16 points or -0.27 percent; the S&P 100 closing at 933.58 for a loss of -1.69 points or -0.18 percent; the Russell 3000 closing at 1249.27 for a loss of -2.93 points or -0.23 percent; the Russell 1000 1172.03 for a loss of -2.34 points or -0.20 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index which closed at 604.77 for a gain of 0.67 points or 0.11 percent.