The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 35,031.07 on Wednesday with a loss of 68.93 points or -0.20%. The S&P 500 closed at 45,14.07 for a loss of 5.96 points or -0.13%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 15,286.64 for a loss of 87.69 points or -0.57%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 17.96 for a loss of 0.18 points or -0.99%.
Wednesday’s market movers
U.S. stocks have started out the week on a down trend. Cryptocurrencies have also been trending lower, somewhat surprisingly, particularly after El Salvador began accepting bitcoin as legal tender.
Last week, investors saw the jobs report come in below a very high expectation. Non-farm payrolls increased by 235,000 in August, below the forecast of 750,000. However, the unemployment rate did fall to 5.2% from 5.4%. Nonetheless, speculators have started out the week a bit skeptical on the economy and “transitory” inflation. Several Wall Street banks have also released lower U.S. growth targets.
On Wednesday, sectors leading losses included the Global X Cannabis ETF (POTX, Financial), the Global X Social Media ETF (SOCL, Financial), the KraneShares Electric Vehicles and Future Mobility Fund (KARS, Financial), and the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK, Financial). Sector funds leading gains for the day included the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU, Financial) with a gain of 1.79%, the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP, Financial) with a gain of 0.86%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE, Financial) with a gain of 0.60%.
In other news:
- August total vehicle sales decreased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 13.06 million from 14.8 million.
- The MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased by 1.9% following a decrease of 2.4%. The MBA’s average 30-year mortgage rate was unchanged at 3.03%.
- The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed job openings of 10.934 million for July, up from 10.185 million.
- The Treasury held auctions for 119-day bills at a rate of 0.045% and 10-year notes at a rate of 1.338%.
- The Federal Reserve released its Beige Book report showing concerns over slowing economic growth and the delta variant’s affects.
- Consumer credit outstanding increased by $17 billion in July following an increase of $37.86 billion.
Across the board:
- GameStop (GME, Financial) was down 0.10% with its earnings release. The company reported second-quarter revenue of $1.18 billion. Revenue increased 25.3% year over year and beat revenue estimates by $60 million. Second-quarter GAAP earnings loss of 85 cents per share missed estimates by 19 cents and non-GAAP earnings loss of 76 cents missed by 9 cents.
- Coinbase (COIN, Financial) was down 3.23% after the company received a Wells Notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding a lending product it has marketed and planned to release later this year.
- Kadmon Holdings (KDMN, Financial) climbed 71.13%.
- Perrigo Company (PRGO, Financial) rose 8.99%.
- Kraft Heinz (KHC, Financial) was up 3.93%.
- NetEase (NTES, Financial) fell 5.17%.
- Western Digital (WDC, Financial) declined 3.84%.
- The 10-year Treasury ended with a yield of 1.336%.
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 2,249.73 for a loss of 25.88 points or -1.14%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,344.46 for a loss of 11.91 points or -0.88%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 15,269.37 for a loss of 172.40 points or -1.12%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 11,011.55 for a loss of 92.88 points or -0.84%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,718.56 for a loss of 9.61 points or -0.35%; the S&P 100 at 2,077.74 for a loss of 3.90 points or -0.19%; the Nasdaq 100 at 15,620.85 for a loss of 54.92 points or -0.35%; the Russell 3000 at 2,675.98 for a loss of 6.76 points or -0.25%; the Russell 1000 at 2,532.20 for a loss of 4.86 points or -0.19%; the Wilshire 5000 at 46,908.04 for a loss of 109.32 points or -0.23%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 841.81 for a gain of 1.22 points or 0.15%.