November 20, 2015: Markets opened higher on Friday with the consumer discretionary sector leading the charge on the strength of Thursday afternoon’s announcement from Nike. Overnight markets in Asia and Europe had little influence on U.S. equity markets, but a comment from ECB President Mario Draghi suggests that the bank could try another round of stimulus if inflation in the eurozone does not rise. WTI crude for January delivery added about 0.4% today to settle at $41.90 per barrel. Gold slipped 0.1% to settle at $1,076.30. Equities were headed for a higher close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded up 0.47% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.35%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.57%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Friday was Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) which traded up 5.34% at $132.50. The stock’s 52-week range is $90.69 to $133.52. Trading volume was about 75% higher than the daily average of around 4.7 million. The company raised its dividend, announced a $12 billion share buyback, and split its stock 2-for-1. If that combination doesn’t send a stock price higher, the stock should be declared officially dead.
The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) traded up 2.40% at $129.91. The stock’s 52-week range is $92.17 to $129.95, a new high posted late today. Volume was about 20% below the daily average of 5.5 million shares traded. Strength in homebuilders’ stocks spread to the home improvement stores today.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) traded up 2.19% at $113.05. The stock’s 52-week range is $95.00 to $126.21. Trading volume was about 10% above the daily average of about 4.7 million. The company said yesterday that it may walk away from offering Obamacare insurance in 2017, but with both Aetna and Anthem saying they plan to stick with Obamacare, investors must figure the United will follow suit.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) traded up 1.52% at $30.73. The stock’s 52-week range is $19.37 to $30.99, and the (multi-year) high was posted today. Trading volume was more than double the daily average of about 84 million. The industrial giant announced the results of its exchange offer for Synchrony this morning.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 17 are set to close higher today and 13 are on track to close lower.
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