March 13, 2014: Markets opened lower on Thursday after China reported industrial production, fixed asset investment, and retail sales well below expectations. U.S. retail sales came in a bit better than expected and new claims for unemployment benefits were lower than expected. But the dollar-yen currency trade appears to have been the real weight on equities today as the yen gained strength. In the final minutes of trading the DJIA was down 1.33%, the S&P 500 was down 1.11%, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.46%.

On a day like today with the market down broadly we thought we’d take a look at the Dow 30 stocks that led the downhill charge.

First is Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) which is down 2.29% in the last half hour of trading on Thursday at $220.92. There was no news for Visa today, but it is the highest priced stock on the DJIA and given the price-weighted nature of the index, Visa accounts for about 9% of the index’s reading. The stock’s 52-week range is $155.68 to $235.50, and volume shortly before closing is about two-thirds of the daily average of 3.2 million shares traded.

Another pricey Dow stock is Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) which is down 1.74% at $166.77 in a 52-week range of $137.29 to $181.13. As with Visa, there was no special news to move the bank’s shares down. Volume so far is also about two-thirds of the daily average of 3.2 million shares traded.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is the second-most expensive Dow 30 stock and its share price has dropped 1.13% today to $184.11 in a 52-week range of $172.19 to $215.90. Volume is about 20% below the daily average of nearly 5 million shares traded.

Conglomerate 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM is another high-priced Dow stock that is down 1.23% today, trading at $130.92 in a 52-week range of $102.89 to $140.43. Volume is about two-thirds of the daily average of 3 million shares traded.

The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is trading down 1.87% at $122.08 in a 52-week range of $83.80 to $144.57. A Boeing 777 is the Malaysian Airlines plane that dropped off the radar screens last weekend and that aircraft had received an airworthiness directive just days before the Malaysian plane went missing. Volume is roughly equal to the average of 5.2 million shares traded.

The only Dow 30 stock posting a gain today is The Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG), and that’s a scant 0.08%.

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