Market Roundup: Mid-week Rally Pushes Indices Positive for the Week

Published: Nov. 12, 2018, 2:01 p.m.

Despite a fall at the end of the week, stocks rode a midweek push to finish in the black. Indices closed with mixed moves on Monday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S+P 500 Index ended the session with gains while the NASDAQ Composite shed some points on the eve of the midterm elections. In economic news, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index, showed business activity, new orders, employment, and prices each grew in October, but at a slower pace than in the prior month. Indices closed at session peak levels on Tuesday with stocks stepping up ahead of the election outcome. Indices closed well into the green zone on Wednesday as several Technology stocks rallied in post-election trading. Indices closed trading with mixed moves on Thursday. The Dow stepped up while the S+P 500 and NASDAQ traded lower on a variety of economic news. The November Federal Open Market Committee meeting was uneventful. Members left the fed funds rate unchanged at 2% to 2.25%, as anticipated. On another note, initial jobless claims decreased last week. Department of Labor numbers showed new claims fell by 1,000, to 214,000, in the week ended November 3. The major indices landed in the red zone on Friday, dipping on a variety of economic news. The Producer Price Index, a measure of inflation at the wholesale level, showed prices ramped up 0.6% versus an expected increase of 0.2%. The core measure, which discounts food and energy, rose 0.2% last month.