Wednesday's Market Wrap: Major Averages Close Mixed

The U.S. stock market finished Wednesday's session largely unchanged. The Dow and S&P 500 recorded small losses while the Nasdaq was modestly higher on the day. The biggest losing sectors were basic materials, down 0.48 percent, and consumer staples, down 0.41 percent. Positive sectors included energy, up 0.12 percent, and utilities, which added 0.10 percent.

Gainers on the session included Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc AGIO, which climbed 26 percent, and Calavo Growers, Inc. CVGW, which added more than 15 percent. Losers included Sprouts Farmers Market Inc SFMI, which fell 14 percent, and HD Supply Holdings Inc HDS, which shed 12 percent on the session.

Major Averages

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 12 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 18,526.

The S&P 500 shed less than a point, or 0.02 percent, to close at 2,186.

The Nasdaq climbed 8 points, or 0.15 percent, to finish at 5,284.

Commodities

The commodity complex was higher on Wednesday with the Bloomberg Commodity Index adding 0.65 percent on the day.

NYMEX crude oil futures added 1.38 percent to $45.45 while Brent contracts climbed 1.29 percent to finish at 47.87. Natural gas futures shed 1.29 percent on the session to $2.68.

Precious metals fell mid-week. COMEX gold futures lost 0.32 percent to $1,327.70. The SPDR Gold Trust ETF GLD fell 0.34 percent to close the equity session at $128.27. Silver contracts shed 1.36 percent on the session to $19.87. The iShares Silver Trust ETF SLV lost 1.42 percent to close at $17.62.

In the grains complex, corn and wheat were both higher on the session. Corn contracts added 1.45 percent to $3.3325 per bushel and wheat futures climbed 1.07 percent to $4.0275.

Bonds

Treasury prices were slightly lower. At the close of equities, the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT had lost 0.07 percent to $139.54.

Treasury yields were as follows on Wednesday afternoon: The yield on the 2-Year Note was 0.74 percent. The 5-Year Note was yielding 1.12 percent. The 10-Year Note was last yielding 1.54 percent while the 30-Year Bond yield was 2.23 percent.

Currencies

The U.S. Dollar was modestly higher. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF UUP, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of foreign currencies, traded up 0.16 percent to $24.54. The closely watched EUR/USD pair fell 0.15 percent to 1.1238 euros.

Volatility and Volume

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was slightly lower. At last check, the VIX had fallen 1 percent to 11.90, and remains near 52-week low levels.

Volume picked up some on Wednesday, but remains below average levels. Around 71 million SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY shares traded hands versus a 3-month daily average of just over 89 million shares. Trading in the PowerShares QQQ Trust QQQ, which tracks the Nasdaq 100, was below average with around 17 million shares being traded compared to a 3-month daily average of 21.2 million.

Posted In: NewsBondsBroad U.S. Equity ETFsSpecialty ETFsFuturesCommoditiesCurrency ETFsForexTreasuriesAfter-Hours CenterMarketsETFs
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