April 24, 2015: Markets opened higher on Friday but only the Nasdaq Composite was able to hold onto its opening gain for the whole day. Tech heavyweights Amazon.com, Google, and Microsoft reported earnings after markets closed on Thursday and all three posted solid stock price gains today. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded up 0.13% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.23%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.73%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Friday was Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) which traded up 10.84% at $48.04. The stock’s 52-week range is $38.51 to $50.05. Trading volume was about 3-times the daily average of around 39 million shares. The company reported solid earnings after markets closed on Thursday.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) traded up 1.65% at $98.60. The stock’s 52-week range is $87.62 to $103.78. Trading volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 7.5 million shares. The company had no specific news today.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) traded higher by 1.04% at $80.01. The stock’s 52-week range is $72.61 to $90.97. Trading volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 6.8 million shares. The company had no specific news today.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) traded up 0.91% at $101.37. The stock’s 52-week range is $95.10 to $109.49. Trading volume was about 40% below the daily average of around 8.8 million shares. The company boosted its dividend by more than 7% yesterday.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 11 are set to close higher today and 19 are on track to close lower.

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