April 11, 2016: Markets opened higher again on Monday on news that Italy is making progress on creating a “bad” bank to hold the bad loans made by other Italian banks. Energy prices went up and the financials and basic materials sectors led markets higher. WTI crude oil for May delivery settled at $40.36 a barrel, up 1.6% for the day. June gold added 1.1% to settle at $1,258.00 for the day. Equities were headed for a mixed close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded flat for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.19%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up down 0.26%. The final bell could find the DJIA on either side of the break-even line.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Monday was The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) which traded up 1.44% at $152.44. The stock’s 52-week range is $139.05 to $218.77. Trading volume was about half the daily average of around 11.5 million. The investment bank has agreed to pay $5 billion to settle outstanding federal charges related to bad mortgage bonds issued prior to the housing collapse.
United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) traded up 1.07% at $102.40. The stock’s 52-week range is $83.39 to $119.66. Volume was about 45% below the daily average of around 6.7 million shares traded. The company also had no specific news Monday.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) traded up 1.00% at $58.32. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.07 to $70.61. Volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 20.6 million shares. The bank had no specific news on Monday.
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American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) traded up 0.77% at $59.96. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.27 to $81.92. Trading volume was less than half the daily average of around 8 million. The credit card company had no specific news Monday.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 16 are set to close higher on Monday and 14 are on track to close lower.
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