March 10, 2016: Markets opened higher again on Thursday but couldn’t hold on after the European Central Bank made some big changes to its policy and then called further interest rates cuts unlikely. Energy and tech were the worst losers in Thursday’s session, with basic materials and telecom providing the only positive gains among the 10 sectors. WTI crude oil for April delivery settled at $37.84 a barrel, down about 1.2% on the day. April gold added 1.2% to settle at $1,272.80 for the day, the yellow metal’s highest settlement in more than a month. Equities were headed for a lower close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded down 0.25% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.18%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.43%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE: DD) which traded down 1.95% at $62.21 The stock’s 52-week range is $47.11 to $76.59. Volume reached about 60% below the daily average of around 5.9 million shares. The chemical giant had no specific news.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded down 1.88% at $51.85. The stock’s 52-week range is $39.72 to $56.85. Trading volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 41 million. The software company had no specific news.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) traded down 1.09% at $27.31. The stock’s 52-week range is $22.46 to $29.90. Trading volume was less than 10% below the daily average of around 32 million. The company had no specific news Thursday.
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JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) traded down 1.04% at $58.51. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.07 to $70.61. Volume was about 15% below the daily average of around 21 million shares traded. The big bank had no news Thursday.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 20 are set to close lower today and 10 are on track to close higher.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks