November 30, 2015: Markets opened higher on Monday but the upbeat start to the day didn’t last long. Industrials and consumer discretionary stocks weighed most heavily on equity indexes today, with energy and tech providing some balancing gains. WTI crude for January delivery traded down about 0.1% today at $41.65 per barrel to close the month down about 10%. Gold for December delivery traded down up about 0.8%% at $1,065.00 for the day, but the most active contract dropped by 6.7% for the month, the largest monthly decline in nearly two and a half years. Equities were headed for a lower close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded down 0.41% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.42%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.37%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Monday was Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) which traded down 1.79% at $58.82. The stock’s 52-week range is $56.30 to $90.97. Trading volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 12 million. Generally downbeat estimates of Thanksgiving weekend sales did not help the world’s largest retailer’s stock price today.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) traded down 1.53% at $132.27. The stock’s 52-week range is $90.69 to $135.30. Trading volume was about 20% below the daily average of about 4.4 million. The company had no specific news today.
Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) traded down 1.50% at $53.15. The stock’s 52-week range is $45.69 to $63.62. Trading volume was little more than half of the daily average of about 12.3 million. The drug maker had no specific news today.
The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) traded down 1.29% at $113.64. The stock’s 52-week range is $90.00 to $122.08. Volume was about 60% above the daily average of around 8.6 million shares traded. The media giant continues to take some hits from the loss of subscribers to its ESPN network. The mid-December release of the next installment of the “Star Wars” franchise can’t come soon enough for the company.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 21 are set to close lower today and 9 are on track to close higher.
ALSO READ: America’s Best and Worst States to Live In
Credit Card Companies Are Doing Something Nuts
Credit card companies are at war. The biggest issuers are handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers.
It’s possible to find cards paying unlimited 1.5%, 2%, and even more today. That’s free money for qualified borrowers, and the type of thing that would be crazy to pass up. Those rewards can add up to thousands of dollars every year in free money, and include other benefits as well.
We’ve assembled some of the best credit cards for users today. Don’t miss these offers because they won’t be this good forever.
Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.