Indexes Close Higher Thursday With Strong Online Retail Sales

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 28,621.39 on Thursday, Dec. 26 with a gain of 105.94 points or 0.37%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,239.91 for a gain of 16.53 points or 0.51%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 9,022.39 for a gain of 69.51 points or 0.78%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 12.54 for a loss of 0.13 points or 1.03%.

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Thursday’s Market Movers” data-reactid=”12″>Thursday’s Market Movers

The major U.S. indexes closed at new highs on Thursday, propelled by strong online retail sales. According to a report from Mastercard, holiday e-commerce sales hit a new record high, up 18.8% from 2018.

In other news:

• The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee will rotate four new voters in 2020 with the leaders of the Cleveland, Philadelphia, Dallas and Minneapolis banks to takeover for Boston, Chicago, Kansas City and St. Louis.
• The MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased 5.3% following a decrease of 5% and the MBA’s average 30-year mortgage rate was up one basis point to 3.99%.
• Jobless claims decreased from the previous week at 222,000 versus 235,000.
• The Treasury held auctions for 4-week bills at a rate of 1.555%, 8-week bills at a rate of 1.565% and 7-year notes at a rate of 1.835%.
• According to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was unchanged, averaging 3.74%, while the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was also unchanged, averaging 3.19%.

In the S&P 500, consumer discretionary and technology led gains. In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains:

• Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) 2.0%
• JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) 1.06%
• Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) 0.91%
• Visa (NYSE:V) 0.84%
• Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) 0.81%

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In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,677.69 for a loss of 0.32 points or 0.02%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,023.70 for a loss of 0.99 points or 0.097%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 10,740.09 for a gain of 1.35 points or 0.01%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 9,977.40 for a gain of 3.76 points or 0.04%.

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Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,067.33 for a gain of 5.97 points or 0.29%; the S&P 100 at 1,447.27 for a gain of 10.17 points or 0.71%; the Nasdaq 100 at 8,778.31 for a gain of 78.81 points or 0.91%; the Russell 3000 at 1,898.24 for a gain of 8.60 points or 0.46%; the Russell 1000 at 1,789.56 for a gain of 8.71 points or 0.49%; the Wilshire 5000 at 33,110.68 for a gain of 162.07 points or 0.49%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 755.31 for a gain of 1.50 points or 0.20%.

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