August 6, 2015: Markets opened higher again on Thursday but not by much and equities quickly turned south and remained in the red for the rest of the day. The report on new claims for jobless benefits supports the view that full (or at least, near-full) employment has returned, and, consequently, the Federal Reserve will begin to hike its policy rate any moment now. Friday’s report on July non-farm payrolls could tell the tale. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded down 0.70% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.79%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 1.66%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) which traded lower by 2.06%% at $46.60. The stock’s 52-week range is $40.12 to $50.05. Trading volume was about 40% below the daily average of around 31 million. Apparently investors were not impressed by Microsoft’s introduction of Translator for the Apple Watch.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) traded down 1.95% at $35.13. The stock’s 52-week range is $27.51 to $36.46. Trading volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 23 million. U.K. officials have accused the company of abusing its position as a dominant supplier of an anti-epilepsy treatment and overcharging the country’s National Health Service by tens of million of pounds..

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) traded down 1.68% at $73.72. The stock’s 52-week range is $48.80 to $76.92.Trading volume was was about 20% below the daily average of around 7 million. The company had no specific news today.

The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) traded down 1.53% at $108.53. The stock’s 52-week range is $78.54 to $122.08. More than 52 million shares traded hands today, more than 8 times the daily average of about 6.8 million. Disney led today’s sell-off in media stocks on worries that the company’s ESPN pay TV network is being hurt by cord-cutting.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 24 are set to close lower today and 6 are on track to close lower.

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