February 11, 2016: Markets opened lower on Thursday as investors appear to have lost their appetite for equities, preferring instead to gorge on government bonds. Demand for U.K. gilts, German bunds, and U.S. t0-year bonds sent interest rates down sharply today. The hardest hit sector today was financials, where talk of negative interest rates keeps weighing on stocks. WTI crude oil for March settled at $26.21, down 5.4% today and the lowest closing price in nerly 13 years. April gold jumped 4.5% to settle at $1,247.80 for the day, the yellow metal’s highest price in a year. Equities were headed for a barely mixed close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded down 1.32% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.91%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.02.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) which traded down 6.78% at $108.47. The stock’s 52-week range is $102.10 to $158.83, and the low was posted today. Volume was about 7 times the daily average of around 4.8 million shares. The company is reported to be the target of an SEC investigation into its program accounting method.
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded down 4.14% at $141.13. The stock’s 52-week range is $139.04 to $218.77, and the low was posted today. Trading volume was more than double the daily average of around 4 million. Every big bank is getting hit today as investors worry about negative interest rates.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) traded down 4.05% at $53.27. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.07 to $70.61. Trading volume was about double the daily average of around 18 million. The note on Goldman applies to JPMorgan as well.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) traded down 2.72% at $27.53. The stock’s 52-week range is $19.37 to $31.49. Volume was about 10% below the daily average of around 81 million shares traded. The industrial giant had no specific news today.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 23 are set to close lower today and 7 are on track to close higher.
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