February 5, 2016: Markets opened lower on Friday following a lower-than-expected report on nonfarm payrolls. There appears to be some concern that investors are worried about the impact of the payroll report on the Fed’s decision to keep hiking interest rates because unemployment fell to 4.9% and wages grew by 0.5%, signs the Fed looks at carefully in determining the state of the economy. The only sector showing a gain ahead of the bell is telecom while tech and consumer discretionary stocks lead the losers. WTI crude oil for March settled down 2.6% today, at $30.89 and closed the week down 8.1%. April gold added 20 cents to settle at $1,157.70 for the day, good enough for a 3.7% weekly increase. Equities were headed for a lower close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded down 1.50% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 2.04%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 3.38%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Friday was Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) which traded down 4.82% at $57.27. The stock’s 52-week range is $45.35 to $68.19. Trading volume was about 30% higher than the daily average of around 10 million. The athletic gear maker took the biggest dose of medicine from the sell-off in consumer discretionary stocks. It didn’t help that both Under Armour and Adidas sold more shoes than Nike according to an analyst at Deutsche Bank.
McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) traded down 4.38% at $115.37. The stock’s 52-week range is $87.50 to $124.83. Trading volume was about 60% higher than the daily average of around 6.8 million. The fast-food giant is another consumer discretionary stock that could be feeling the effects of the so-so report from Yum! Brands earlier this week.
The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) traded down 3.96% at $116.31. The stock’s 52-week range is $92.17 to $135.47. Volume was about 15% above the daily average of around 6 million shares. The company had no specific news today.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) traded down 3.31% at $100.46. The stock’s 52-week range is $81.79 to $105.49. Volume was about 60% above the daily average of around 8.4 million shares traded. The healthcare giant had no specific news today either.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 23 are set to close lower today and 7 are on track to close higher.
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