April 28, 2016: Markets opened lower Thursday after the Bank of Japan made no move to cut its interest rate and the dollar fell in response. The first estimate of U.S. first quarter GDP rang in at 0.5%, a little short of estimates and a sort of vindication of the FOMC decision announced Wednesday not to raise interest rates. Tech and consumer discretionary sectors led Thursday’s slide. WTI crude oil for June delivery settled at $46.03 a barrel, up 1.5% for the day, and the highest closing price since November. June gold added 1.3% on the day to settle at $1,266.40. Equities were headed for a lower close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded down 1.09% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.89%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 1.00%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) which traded down 2.81% at $95.07. The stock’s 52-week range is $92.00 to $132.97. Trading volume was 90% above the daily average of around 38 million. Activist investor Carl Icahn has sold his entire stake (45.8 million shares) in the company.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) traded down 2.50% at $27.92. The stock’s 52-week range is $22.46 to $29.90. Volume was nearly equal to the daily average of around 25.8 million shares traded. The networking company had no specific news Thursday.
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The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) traded down 2.15% at $132.83. The stock’s 52-week range is $92.17 to $137.00. Trading volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 5 million. The home improvement company had no specific news Thursday.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded down 2.02% at $49.94. The stock’s 52-week range is $39.72 to $56.85. Volume was about 10% below the daily average of around 35 million shares. The software company had no specific news Thursday.
All 30 DJIA stocks are set to close lower today.
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