US Market Indexes Lower on Friday

- By Julie Young

U.S. market indexes were lower on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,754.06 for a loss of -28.23 points or -0.11%. The S&P 500 Index closed at 2,683.34 with a loss of -1.23 points or -0.05%. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 6,959.96 for a loss of -5.40 points or -0.08%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 9.85 for a gain of 0.23 points or 2.39%.


Friday"s market movers

Stocks were lower on Friday, but indexes reported a weekly gain. President Donald Trump signed the tax reform legislation into law, decreasing the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%. For the week, the Dow gained 0.4%, the S&P 500 gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq gained 0.2%.

Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:

  • Durable goods orders were 1.3% higher for the month and 8.2% higher for the year.

  • Personal income increased 0.3% for the month.

  • The PCE Price Index increased 1.8% for the year.

  • New home sales increased to a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of 733,000.

  • The University of Michigan"s Consumer Sentiment Index was reported at 95.9, decreasing from 96.8.

  • The Baker Hughes rig count decreased to 1,141 from 1,168.



In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses:

Nike (NKE) -2.29%

Walt Disney (DIS) -0.82%

Goldman Sachs (GS) -0.78%

UnitedHealth (UNH) -0.76%

Merck (MRK) -0.42%

JPMorgan (JPM) -0.35%

In the broad market, health care and financial stocks led losses. Technology was also lower with the S&P 500 technology sector down -0.06%.

Small-cap stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,542.93 for a loss of -4.18 points or -0.27%. The S&P 600 Index closed at 939.34 for a loss of -2.82 points or -0.30%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,456.58 for a loss of -12.62 points or -0.13%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 10,280.43 for a loss of -16.58 points or -0.16%.

Other notable indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,904.58 for a loss of -0.60 points or -0.03%; the S&P 100 Index at 1,189.02 for a loss of -1.37 points or -0.12%; the Russell 3000 Index at 1,588.25 for a loss of -0.79 points or -0.05%; the Russell 1000 Index at 1,486.77 for a loss of -0.47 points or -0.03%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 705.18 for a gain of 1.86 points or 0.26%.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.