August 31 2015: Markets opened lower on Monday, but even a massive rally in crude oil couldn’t keep the bears at bay. A somewhat vague bulletin from OPEC and an EIA report that June production in the U.S. dropped by about 100,000 barrels a day pushed oil traders to bid prices up nearly 9% on the and 4.4% for the month of August. Gold closed lower today, but gained 3.4% in the month. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded down 0.44% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.60%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.86%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage drop ahead of the close Monday was Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) which traded down 2.49% at $53.99. The stock’s 52-week range is $45.69 to $63.62. About 8.4 million shares traded hands today, nearly 20% less than the daily average of about 10.2 million. The company had no specific news today.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) traded down 1.64% at $71.27. The stock’s 52-week range is $48.80 to $76.92. Trading volume was about a third lower than the daily average of about 7.5 million. The company also had no specific news today.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) traded lower by 1.32% at $32.23. The stock’s 52-week range is $27.51 to $36.46. Trading volume was about 15% below the daily average of around 24 million. Again, there was no specific news on the company today.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) traded down 1.19% at $24.86. The stock’s 52-week range is $19.37 to $28.68. Trading volume was about 33% below the daily average of around 32 million. The company had no specific news today.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 22 are set to close lower today and 8 are on track to close higher.

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