US Indexes Continue Gains Thursday

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 29,297.64 on Thursday with a gain of 267.42 points or 0.92%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,316.81 for a gain of 27.52 points or 0.84%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 9,357.13 for a gain of 98.44 points or 1.06%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 12.34 for a loss of 0.08 points or -0.64%.

<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

U.S. indexes closed higher Thursday with the Dow Jones reporting a new closing high over the 29,000 mark. Investors continued to cheer the signing of a “phase one” trade deal with China. China will buy more products from the U.S. and the pact also includes enhanced protections for intellectual property.

Bank earnings continued as the fourth-quarter earnings season got under way this week. Top results included the following:

• Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS): Revenue of $10.86 billion increased 27% year over year and beat estimates by $1.14 billion. GAAP earnings of $1.30 per share beat estimates by 29 cents and non-GAAP earnings of $1.20 per share beat estimates by 18 cents.
• Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW): Revenue of $2.61 billion decreased 2.2% year over year and was in-line with estimates. Fouth-quarter GAAP earnings of 62 cents per share missed estimates by 2 cents and non-GAAP earnings of 63 cents per share missed estimates by 1 cent.
• Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK): Revenue of $3.99 billion decreased 0.3% year over year and missed estimates by $180 million. Fourth-quarter GAAP earnings of $1.52 per share beat estimates by 1 cent and non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.01 beat estimates by 1 cent.

Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:

• Retail sales increased 0.3% in December following a 0.3% increase. Year over year, retail sales increased 5.8%, up from 3.3%. Retail sales excluding autos increased 0.7% in December.
• Export and import price data was released. Export prices decreased 0.2% in December and decreased 0.7% year over year. Import prices increased 0.3% in December and increased 0.5% year over year.
• Jobless claims were 204,000 for the week, down from 214,000 in the previous week. Continuing jobless claims decreased to 1,767,000 from 1,804,000.
• Business inventories decreased 0.2% in November following an increase of 0.1%.
• The NAHB Housing Market Index decreased to 75 in January from 76.
• The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 1.505% and eight-week bills at a rate of 1.53%.
• The Treasury International Capital report showed overall net capital flows of -$48.3 billion in November, foreign bond investments of -$16.8 billion and net long-term flows of $32.5 billion.
• Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market report showed rates up slightly. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.65%, up from 3.64%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.09%, up from 3.07%.

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

• Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) 2.15%
• Home Depot (NYSE:HD) 1.86%
• Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) 1.81%
• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) 1.80%
• Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) 1.56%
• Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) 1.43%

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Small-cap stocks” data-reactid=”45″>Small-cap stocks

In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,704.30 for a gain of 21.90 points or 1.30%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,041.03 for a gain of 13.42 points or 1.31%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 10,974.14 for a gain of 137.37 points or 1.27%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 10,018.84 for a gain of 110.47%.

<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="Other notable indexes” data-reactid=”47″>Other notable indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,100.34 for a gain of 24.24 points or 1.17%; the S&P 100 at 1,483.51 for a gain of 11.28 points or 0.77%; the Nasdaq 100 at 9,125.00 for a gain of 89.33 points or 0.99%; the Russell 3000 at 1,944.24 for a gain of 16.91 points or 0.88%; the Russell 1000 at 1,833.91 for a gain of 15.35 points or 0.84%; the Wilshire 5000 at 33,926.65 for a gain of 296.68 points or 0.88%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 763.64 for a gain of 6.81 points or 0.90%.

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<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
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