November 27, 2015: Markets opened mixed on Friday but only narrowly up or down from Wednesday’s close. No economic data was due out today and there was little corporate news as well. A stronger dollar also weighed on commodity prices today. WTI crude for January delivery traded down about 2.5% today at $41.98 per barrel, putting crude on track for a gain of about 8 cents a barrel since last Friday’s close. Gold for January delivery traded down about 1.2% at $1,056.80, setting the yellow metal on track for a weekly loss of around 1.8%. Equities were headed for a minimally higher close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded up 0.01% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.10%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.26%.
Markets closed at 1:00 p.m. ET today following a very light trading session.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Friday was Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) which traded up 0.94% at $45.34. The stock’s 52-week range is $38.06 to $50.86. Trading volume was about 80% below the daily average of about 14 million. The company had no specific news today.
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded up 0.89% at $190.83. The stock’s 52-week range is $167.49 to $218.77. Trading volume was less than 30% of the daily average of around 3.2 million. The most heavily weighted stock in the Dow index did its best to offset a 3% decline in Disney stock today.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) traded up 0.48% at $27.37. The stock’s 52-week range is $23.03 to $30.31. Volume was about a third the daily average of around 28 million shares traded. The networking giant had no specific news today.
Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) traded up 0.41% at $53.94. The stock’s 52-week range is $45.69 to $63.62. Trading volume was less than 20% of the daily average of about 12.6 million. The drug maker had no specific news today.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 18 are set to close higher today and 12 are on track to close lower.
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