US Indexes End Higher Thursday

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 29,483.23 on Thursday with a gain of 44.81 points or 0.15{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}. The S&P 500 closed at 3,581.87 for a gain of 14.08 points or 0.39{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 11,904.71 for a gain of 103.11 points or 0.87{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 22.86 for a loss of 0.98 points or -4.11{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}.

Thursday’s market movers

The major U.S. indexes ended higher Thursday after two days of losses. The Center for Disease Control suggested Americans not travel for the Thanksgiving holiday. The number of Americans filing for jobless claims increased from the previous week, though continuing claims were lower. In general, investors continued to be optimistic on vaccines with Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) expecting December for emergency authorization. However, a second wave of infections has most states on heightened alert and many new restrictions in place.

In other news:

• Affirm has filed for an initial public offering.
• PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) is adding crowdsourced fundraising platform Generosity Network.
• Freddie Mac released its weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.72{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}, down from 2.84{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.28{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}, down from 2.34{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}.

• 742,000 Americans filed for jobless claims, up from 711,000. Continuing jobless claims were 6.372 million, down from 6.801 million.
• The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index decreased to 26.3 in November from 32.3.
• The Kansas Fed Manufacturing Index decreased to 20 in November from 23.
• Existing home sales increased 4.3{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9} in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.85 million.
• The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Indicators Index increased 0.7{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9} in October following an increase of 0.7{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}.
• The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 0.070{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}, eight-week bills at a rate of 0.070{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9} and 10-Year TIPS at a rate of -0.867{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}.

Across the board:

Small-cap stocks

In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,784.13 for a gain of 14.82 points or 0.84{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}. The S&P 600 closed at 1,021.83 for a gain of 6.50 points or 0.64{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 12,328.18 for a gain of 130.80 points or 1.07{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 8,318.25 for a gain of 36.77 points or 0.44{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}.

Other notable indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,149.15 for a gain of 17.70 points or 0.83{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}; the S&P 100 at 1,640.51 for a gain of 6.35 points or 0.39{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}; the Nasdaq 100 at 11,985.43 for a gain of 90.72 points or 0.76{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}; the Russell 3000 at 2,122.37 for a gain of 11.31 points or 0.54{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}; the Russell 1000 at 2,007.80 for a gain of 10.31 points or 0.52{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}; the Wilshire 5000 at 37,075.73 for a gain of 187.31 points or 0.51{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 661.79 for a gain of 0.050 points or 0.0076{46dd52bca0123ad67b2d1222819e83fd0a56e45ca5068239f05f0c514f1e20f9}.

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