US Market Indexes Mostly Higher

- By Julie Young

U.S. market indexes were mostly higher on Wednesday with the Dow Jones down slightly for the day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 19,804.72 for a loss of 22.05 points or 0.11%. The Standard & Poor's 500 closed at 2,271.89 for a gain of 4.00 points or 0.18%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 5,555.65 for a gain of 16.93 points or 0.31%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher for the day at 12.48 for a gain of 0.61 points or 5.14%.

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• AXP 15-Year Financial Data

• The intrinsic value of AXP

• Peter Lynch Chart of AXP

Wednesday's market movers

Economic reports affecting trading on Wednesday included the following:

• The Mortgage Bankers Association's mortgage applications report showed an increase of 0.8% in mortgage applications for the week.

• The Consumer Price Index was up 0.3% in December and 2.1% for the year with energy prices increasing.

• Industrial production increased 0.8% in December.

• The Housing Market Index was decreased to 67.

• The Beige Book showed continued moderate to modest income growth with a slightly more positive outlook.

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

Gains

• American Express (AXP) 1.16%.

• Travelers (TRV) 0.92%.

Losses

• UnitedHealth (UNH) -1.82%.

• ExxonMobil (XOM) -1.24%.

In the broad market, energy led losses while the financial sector led gains. Technology stocks were higher for the day with the S&P 500 technology sector gaining 0.26%.

Small-cap stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,358.56 for a gain of 6.23 points or 0.46%. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 832.57 for a gain of 4.15 points or 0.50%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 8,046.58 for a gain of 34.56 points or 0.43%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,684.97 for a gain of 47.61 points or 0.49%.

Other notable indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,679.97 for a gain of 7.24 points or 0.43%; the S&P 100 Index at 1,003.85 for a gain of 0.68 points or 0.07%; the Russell 3000 Index at 1,351.19 for a gain of 3.07 points or 0.23%; the Russell 1000 Index at 1,261.27 for a gain of 2.62 points or 0.21%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 637.07 for a gain of 1.23 points or 0.19%.

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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Sign with UN. Click here to check it out.

• AXP 15-Year Financial Data

• The intrinsic value of AXP

• Peter Lynch Chart of AXP