March 18, 2016: Markets opened higher on Friday as the wave of risk-on trades continued following Wednesday’s FOMC announcement. The healthcare, financials, and industrials sectors led today’s markets higher while telecom, energy and utilities held the gains down. WTI crude oil for April delivery settled at $39.60 a barrel, down about 1.5% for the day, but up about 3.7% for the week. April gold dropped% to settle at $1,265.00 for the day. Equities were headed for a higher close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded up 0.74% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.47%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.47%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Friday was The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) which traded up 3.21% at $157.82. The stock’s 52-week range is $139.05 to $218.77. Trading volume was about10% above the daily average of around 5 million. The bank had no news Friday.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) traded up 3.06% at $60.55. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.07 to $70.61. Volume reached about 15% above the daily average of around 21 million shares. The big bank announced a larger buyback program Friday morning, as did BofA, Wells Fargo, and Capital One.
The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) traded up 2.78% at $134.33. The stock’s 52-week range is $102.10 to $155.50. Trading volume was about 10% above the daily average of around 6.1 million. The aerospace company also had no specific news Friday..
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Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) traded up 1.88% at $32.58. The stock’s 52-week range is $24.87 to $35.59. Volume was about 25% above the daily average of around 25.8 million shares traded. The chipmaker had no news on Friday
Of the Dow 30 stocks 22 are set to close higher on Friday and 8 are on track to close lower.
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