March 24, 2016: Markets opened lower again on for a third consecutive session Thursday as dollar-buying sank the markets for everything from gold to real estate. The day’s economic news was decidedly downbeat with jobless claim rising a bit more than expected and durable goods order weaker than expected. WTI crude oil for May delivery settled at $39.46 a barrel, down about 4% for the day and down about the same amount for the week, the first weekly loss in six weeks. April gold fell 0.2% to settle at $1,221.60 for the day and down for the third straight week, losing 2.6% in the short week. Equities were headed for a mixed close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded up 0.05% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.08%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.03%. All three indexes trade very close to the break-even line after starting the day off deeper in the hole.
Markets are closed Friday for observance of Good Friday.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Thursday was Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) which traded up 2.17% at $75.28. The stock’s 52-week range is $56.36 to $89.62. Trading volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 7.2 million. JPMorgan analysts praised Cat’s dividend yield and international exposure this morning.
24/7 Wall St.International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) traded up 1.78% at $147.99. The stock’s 52-week range is $116.90 to $176.30. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 5.4 million shares traded. The tech company had no specific news Thursday.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) traded up 1.31% at $53.60. The stock’s 52-week range is $38.06 to $53.85. Trading volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 17.6 million. Verizon began selling the new iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro on Thursday.
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) traded up 1.16% at $94.68. The stock’s 52-week range is $69.58 to $112.20. Volume reached more than 6 million shares, about 50% below the daily average of around 12 million shares. Chevron was another stock talked up by JPMorgan analysts this morning.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 15 are set to close higher on Thursday and 15 are on track to close lower.
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