US Stocks End Mostly Flat on Biden's First Day
- By Julie Young
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 31,176.01 on Thursday with a loss of 12.37 points or -0.04%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,853.07 for a gain of 1.22 points or 0.03%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 13,530.91 for a gain of 73.67 points or 0.55%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 21.32 for a loss of 0.26 points or -1.20%.
Thursday's market movers
U.S. stocks closed mostly flat Thursday, Joe Biden's first full day as president. Biden entered office with a Covid agenda and a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan. He signed 15 executive orders and two executive actions Thursday. His efforts included:
Masks required on federal property across the nation.
Revoking a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Invoking the Defense Production Act for COVID supplies.
On the economic calendar Thursday:
The New Residential Construction Report was released. Building permits increased 4.5% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.709 million. Housing starts increased 5.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.669 million.
900,000 Americans filed for jobless claims, down from 926,000 in the previous week. Continuing jobless claims were 5.054 million, down from 5.181 million.
The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index increased to 26.5 from 9.1.
The Treasury held auctions for four-week bills at a rate of 0.070%, eight-week bills at a rate of 0.080% and 10-Year TIPS at a rate of -0.987%.
Freddie Mac released its weekly mortgage market survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.77%, down from 2.79%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.21%, down from 2.23%.
Earnings headlines for the day included:
Travelers (NYSE:TRV): Earned premiums of $7.48 billion increased 3.2% year over year and beat estimates by $60 million. Fourth-quarter GAAP earnings of $5.10 per share beat estimates by $2 and non-GAAP earnings of $4.91 beat estimates by $1.76.
IBM (NYSE:IBM): Revenue of $20.37 billion decreased 6.5% year over year and missed estimates by $260 million. Fourth-quarter GAAP earnings of $1.41 beat estimates by 14 cents and non-GAAP earnings of $2.07 beat estimates by 19 cents.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC): Revenue of $20 billion decreased 1.0% year over year and beat estimates by $2.5 billion. Fourth-quarter GAAP earnings of $1.42 per share beat estimates by 38 cents and non-GAAP earnings of $1.52 beat estimates by 41 cents. Stock gained 6.46%.
Across the board:
United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) down 5.73% after reporting a loss of approximately $2 billion.
The iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) led sector gains for the day with a return of 1.45%.
The S&P 500 energy sector was down 3.38%.
Pure Energy Minerals (NYSE:PE) +22.50%
Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) +6.26%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 2,141.42 for a loss of 19.20 points or -0.89%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,216.23 for a loss of 13.59 points or -1.11%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 14,989.81 for a loss of 89.64 points or -0.59%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 9,620.45 for a loss of 122.22 points or -1.25%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,453.24 for a loss of 15.77 points or -0.64%; the S&P 100 at 1,766.86 for a gain of 4.88 points or 0.28%; the Nasdaq 100 at 13,404.99 for a gain of 108.54 points or 0.82%; the Russell 3000 at 2,320.77 for a loss of 2.10 points or -0.090%; the Russell 1000 at 2,181.45 for a loss of 0.69 points or -0.032%; the Wilshire 5000 at 40,496.73 for a loss of 15.47 points or -0.038%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index 718.15 for a loss of 4.96 points or -0.69%.
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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.