November 3, 2015: Markets opened lower on Tuesday but recovered by mid-morning and moved slowly higher through the afternoon. Factory orders and durable goods orders both came in lower than a month ago, but that was expected. WTI crude oil rose 3.8%, to settle at $47.90 on expected lower production in Libya and a strike in Brazil. Gold ended down $21.80, or 1.9%, to settle at $1,114.10. Equities were headed for a higher close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded up 0.53% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.27%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.34%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Tuesday was Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) which traded up 3.62% at $77.94. The stock’s 52-week range is $59.78 to $78.89. Volume was about 80% above the daily average of about 9 million shares traded. The credit card issuer company got some kind words from analysts today.
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) traded up 3.11% at $97.91. The stock’s 52-week range is $69.58 to $119.73. Trading volume was about 25% above the daily average of about 12 million. The company had no specific news again today, but the second big increase in crude oil prices served the stock well.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) traded up 1.88% at $86.88. The stock’s 52-week range is $66.55 to $97.20. Trading volume was about equal to the daily average of about 16 million. Is the DJIA tracking crude?
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded up 1.70% at $54.15. The stock’s 52-week range is $39.72 to $54.39, and the high was posted today. Trading volume was about 15% below the daily average of around 36 million. The company capped its formerly unlimited cloud storage service, a move investors don’t seem too concerned about.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 25 are set to close higher today and 5 are on track to close higher.
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