October 2, 2015: Markets opened lower on Friday, but in a near-miracle retracing fought broke back into the green in the noon hour. The weak start to the day’s trading could have been down to the dollar’s fall against the yen following a much worse employment number than expected. Now the prospects for a Fed interest rate hike dim again. The crude oil November contract settled at $45.54 a barrel, up about 1.8% for day but down about 0.4% for the week. Gold settled about 2% higher today at $1,136.60, but posted a loss of around 0.8% for the week.Equities were headed for a higher close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded up 1.00% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 1.17%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 1.45%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Friday was Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) which traded up 3.80% at $81.32. The stock’s 52-week range is $69.58 to $120.17. Trading volume was about 20% lower than the daily average of around 11.3 million. The company had no news today but a rise in crude prices likely helped Chevron’s cause.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) traded up 2.17% at $75.67. The stock’s 52-week range is $66.55 to $97.20. Trading volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 15.3 million. The company had no specific news today, but a rising tide of crude pricing lifted both of the DJIA’s mega-cap energy stocks.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) traded up 1.84% at $65.57. The stock’s 52-week range is $62.99 to $107.12. Trading volume was about equal to the daily average of around 7.4 million. Improving prices for crude could indicate an improvement in sales of Cat’s mining equipment.

3M Company (NYSE: MMM) traded higher by 1.46% at $142.85. The stock’s 52-week range is $130.60 to $170.50. Trading volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 2.8 million. The company had no specific news today.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 28 are set to close higher today and 2 are on track to close lower.

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