December 14, 2015: Markets opened very slightly higher on Monday and traded lower for most of the morning before bouncing around the breakeven line and trending slightly higher less than an hour before the closing bell. WTI crude for January delivery added 1.9% today to settle at $36.31 per barrel. Gold for February delivery traded down about 1.1% to settle at $1,063.40 for the day, it lowest settlement since December 3rd. Equities were headed for a slightly higher close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded up 0.25% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.16%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.04%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Monday was Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) which traded up 2.87% at $88.92. The stock’s 52-week range is $69.58 to $114.45. Trading volume was about equal to the daily average of around 10 million. The company’s stock got a boost from a nearly 2% gain in crude oil prices today.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) traded up 1.98% at $75.81. The stock’s 52-week range is $66.55 to $95.18. Trading volume was about 15% above the daily average of about 15 million. Like Chevron, no specific news today but an uptick in crude prices gives the stock a little push higher.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded up 1.37% at $54.80. The stock’s 52-week range is $39.72 to $56.23. Trading volume was about 10% higher than the daily average of around 35 million. The company had no specific news today.
3M Company (NYSE: MMM) traded up 1.19% at $156.67. The stock’s 52-week range is $134.00 to $170.50. Volume was about 10% above the daily average of around 2.5 million shares traded. The company 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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