Most of the major U.S. stock indexes broke a five-day slide today thanks largely to gains in the energy sector as crude prices rallied to a six-week high.
Indexes such as the Standard & Poor’s 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, with their energy exposure U.S. stocks snapped a five-day slide, with energy companies leading the gains. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose 1.33% today. The Energy Select Sector SDPR ETF gained 2.91%. Shares of ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) rose 2.58% and 1.98%, respectively. The gain in oil stocks was driven by a forecast that tropic storm Nicholas would gain in intensity as it approached the Gulf Coast leading to further shutdowns in production.
The technology heavy NASDAQ Composite and the BIG TECH heavy NASDAQ 100 didn’t get that boost. The Composite finished the day off 0.07% and the 100 closed down 0.04%.
The small cap Russell 2000 index gained 0.59% on the Day and the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) was higher by 0.25%.
The CBOE S&P 500 Volatility Index (VIX) fell 7.54% to 19.37 at the close. It had climbed as high as 21.13 today. On September 1, the “fear index,” which reflects the prices that investors and traders are willing to pay for short-term hedges on the S&P 500, was just 16.11.
(Yes, I’m back from a glorious week of hiking and animal spotting, hence the bison photo, in Yellowstone. I hope to get up to speed quickly.)
