January 4, 2016: Markets opened lower on Monday following a 7% dive in Chinese stocks overnight. A dispute between Iran and Saudi Arabia over the Saudi’s execution of a Shi’ite cleric has raised tensions in the Middle East. WTI crude oil for February delivery traded down about 0.8% today to settle at $36.76 after rising earlier to $38.39. Gold for February delivery traded higher by 1.4% to settle at $1,075.20 for the day. Equities were headed for a lower close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded down 1.77% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 1.74%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 2.33%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Monday was E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE: DD) which traded down 5.42% at $62.99. The stock’s 52-week range is $47.11 to $176.59. Trading volume was about 40% below the daily average of about 6.8million. The company closed the acquisition of industrial technology assets valued at around $75 million from Dyadic International.
American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) traded down 3.21% at $67.33. The stock’s 52-week range is $66.77 to $93.94. Trading volume was about l25% higher than the daily average of around 5.5 million. The credit card issuer lost another major client today as Fidelity Investments dropped the Amex cards in favor of Visa cards issued by U.S. Bancorp.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) traded down 3.2% at $63.49. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.07 to $70.61. Trading volume was about 35% above the daily average of around 14 million. The big bank had no specific news today.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) traded down 3% at $26.34. The stock’s 52-week range is $23.03 to $30.31. Volume was about 15% above the daily average of around 25 million shares traded. The networking giant had no specific news today.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 29 are set to close lower today and just 1 (Walmart) is on track to close higher.
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