September 4, 2015: Markets opened lower on Friday following the nonfarm payroll report this morning, likely because the low headline unemployment rate (5.1%) and the four-week average job growth total (221,000 new jobs) could be the signal the Fed has been waiting for before raising rates at the FOMC meeting later this month. Crude oil for October delivery settled down 1.6% for the day, but gained about 1.8% for the week. Gold futures settled down 0.3% for the day and 1.1% for the week at its lowest level in more than 2 weeks. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded down 1.42% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 1.30%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.90%.

Just a reminder: U.S. markets will be closed Monday in observance of the Labor Day holiday.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Friday was E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE: DD) which traded lower by 3.13% at $48.98. The stock’s 52-week range is $48.01 to $76.59. Trading volume was equal to the daily average of around 5.9 million. The company had no specific news today.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded down 1.99% at $181.38. The stock’s 52-week range is $171.26 to $218.77. About 3.4 million shares traded hands today, around 25% more than the daily average of about 2.7 million. The financial giant also had no specific news today.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded down 1.72% at $42.75. The stock’s 52-week range is $39.72 to $50.05. Trading volume was about 20% lower than the daily average of around 34 million. Bloomberg reported this morning that the software giant is considering spending several billion on revamping its Redmond, Washington, headquarters.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) traded down 1.53% at $77.06. The stock’s 52-week range is $69.58 to $128.46. Trading volume was about 10% below the daily average of around 10 million. The Canadian Supreme Court ruled against Chevron’s appeal of a $5.9 billion judgment in the massive Ecuadoran environmental damage case.All 30 Dow stocks are on track to close lower today.

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