The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 34,502.51 on Wednesday with a gain of 210.22 points or 0.61%. The S&P 500 closed at 4,297.50 for a gain of 5.70 points or 0.13%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 14,503.95 for a loss of 24.38 points or -0.17%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 15.81 for a loss of 0.21 points or -1.31%.
In June, the S&P 500 had a gain of approximately 2.2%, the Nasdaq was up 5.53% and the Dow Jones returned -0.09%. For the first half of the year, the S&P 500 has a gain of 14.4%, the Dow Jones is up 12.61%, and the Nasdaq has a return of 12.53%.
Wednesday’s market movers
The S&P 500 reported another closing high Wednesday, helping the index to its second-best year-to-date return for the first sixth months. On Wednesday, ADP released its monthly private sector payrolls report. June private sector payrolls increased by 692,000 following an increase of 886,000 and beating the estimate of 450,000. Fed official Kaplan also suggested Wednesday that asset tapering should begin before the end of the year. The Fed has hinted that asset tapering will likely be a first step in policy moves, but has yet to begin or share a clear timeline.
In other news:
- The MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased 6.9% following an increase of 2.1%. The MBA’s average 30-year mortgage rate increased to 3.2% from 3.18%.
- The Chicago PMI decreased to 66.1 in June from 75.2.
- Pending home sales increased 8% in May and 13.1% year over year.
- Crude oil inventory decreased by 8.1 million barrels, according to the EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
Across the board:
- Altair Resources (AVX, Financial) gained 109%.
- Houston American Energy Corp. (HUSA, Financial) swelled 48.5%.
- Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY, Financial) rose 11.30% following earnings results and an improved outlook.
- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Financial) swelled 4.93% with U.K. Xilinx acquisition approval.
- Airbnb (ABNB, Financial) rose 4.83%.
- Xilinx (XLNX, Financial) gained 3.6%.
- Micron (MU, Financial) increased 2.47% following earnings release.
- Walmart (WMT, Financial) gained 2.75%.
- Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE, Financial) swelled 1.24%.
- Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP, Financial) increased 0.79%.
- ETFMG Video Game Tech ETF (GAMR, Financial) fell 0.78%.
- Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE, Financial) declined 0.74%.
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 2,310.55 for a gain of 1.71 points or 0.074%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,374.84 for a gain of 4.86 points or 0.35%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 15,436.78 for a loss of 30.79 points or -0.20%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 11,279.10 for a gain of 60.29 points or 0.54%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,696.12 for a gain of 2.32 points or 0.086%; the S&P 100 at 1,964.75 for a gain of 2.52 points or 0.13%; the Nasdaq 100 at 14,554.80 for a loss of 17.94 points or -0.12%; the Russell 3000 at 2,570.66 for a gain of 1.24 points or 0.048%; the Russell 1000 at 2,421.14 for a gain of 1.13 points or 0.047%; the Wilshire 5000 at 44,971.07 for a gain of 34.35 points or 0.076%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 835.69 for a gain of 4.47 points or 0.54%.
