December 4, 2015: Markets opened slightly higher again on Friday following a solid report on November non-farm payrolls added strength to the belief that the Fed will indeed raise the funds rate at its meeting in another 10 days or so. The dollar gained strength again today, and 10-year Treasury notes slipped a bit after jumping on Thursday. WTI crude for January delivery traded down 2.7% today to settle at $39.97 per barrel. Gold for February delivery traded up about 2.2% to settle at $1,084.10 for the day and post a gain of 2.6% for the week. Equities were headed for a higher close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded up 2.09% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 2.02%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 2.06%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Friday was Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) which traded up 3.34% at $119.05. The stock’s 52-week range is $92.00 to $134.54. Trading volume was about equal to the daily average of around 47.4 million. Competitor Samsung agreed today to pay Apple $548 million to settle a patent dispute.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded up 3.27% at $55.97. The stock’s 52-week range is $39.72 to $56.23, and the high was posted today. Trading volume was about equal to the daily average of about 35 million. The software giant had no specific news today.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) traded up 2.99% at $67.77. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.07 to $70.61. Trading volume was about 10% below the daily average of about 14.5 million. The company received a favorable ruling late yesterday in a lawsuit brought against it for the $6.2 billion loss in 2012 due to bad trades by Morgan trader known as the London Whale.
The Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) traded up 2.81% at $77.87. The stock’s 52-week range is $65.02 to $93.89. Volume was about equal to the daily average of around 9 million shares traded. The company had no specific news today.
All 30 stocks in the Dow 30 is on track to close with a gain today.
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