How the day closed: indexes, leaders, laggards, and volatility.
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This is the CAMS Closing Market Recap for Friday, July 31.
The last session of July went to the large caps. Measured by the major index tracking funds, the S&P 500 finished at 747, up about seven tenths of a percent. The Nasdaq 100 added about two thirds of a percent to close near 688, and the Dow rose half a percent to about 524. The small-cap Russell 2000 sat this one out, slipping half a percent to around 291.
Under the hood it was a split tape. Only four of the eleven sectors closed higher, but the winners carried real weight. Consumer discretionary jumped more than three percent to lead the market, communications added about a percent and a half, and energy gained one percent. On the other side, health care and utilities each eased about six tenths, and materials dropped more than two percent to finish last.
Inside the Dow, breadth was respectable, with eighteen advancers against twelve decliners. Microsoft rose three percent, Nvidia nearly matched it, and Chevron added better than two percent. The heavy anchor was Apple, down more than seven percent on the day, with Boeing and UnitedHealth also lower.
Volatility kept draining. The VIX fell more than six percent to close just under sixteen, a calm reading for a month-end session.
In one sentence, this was a day when a handful of big growth names pulled the indexes higher while small caps and the defensive corners quietly stepped back.
The weekend is ahead, and the data feed shows no major economic releases on the calendar to open the new week. The desk will be watching whether consumer discretionary keeps its leadership role into August, and whether small caps continue to trail the large-cap averages.
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