April 29, 2016: Markets opened lower Friday with healthcare and tech stocks taking the brunt of the punishment. This morning’s report on PCE inflation showed inflation lower in April than in March and still well below the Fed target of 2%. Consumer sentiment also fell as Americans don’t see much to look forward to. WTI crude oil for June delivery settled at $45.92 a barrel, down about 0.2% for the day, but crude prices gained nearly 20% in April. June gold added 1.9% on the day to settle at $1,290.50, up 4.4% for the month and more than 5% for the week.. Equities were headed for a lower close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded down 0.14% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.33%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.52%. Daily losses were pared back significantly in the last half hour of trading Friday.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Friday was Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) which traded down 2.76% at $67.01. The stock’s 52-week range is $56.30 to $79.94. Trading volume was nearly equal to the daily average of around 9.7 million. The world’s largest retailer had no specific news Friday, but slow U.S. spending and slow wage growth are definitely not in the Wal-Mart’s best interest.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) traded down 2.72% at $30.26 The stock’s 52-week range is $24.87 to $35.59. Trading volume was about 20% above the daily average of around 24 million. The chip maker had no specific news on Friday.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) traded down 1.61% at $27.51. The stock’s 52-week range is $22.46 to $29.90. Volume was about equal to the daily average of around 25.8 million shares traded. The networking company had no specific news again Friday.
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) traded down 1.63% at $54.83. The stock’s 52-week range is $45.69 to $61.70. Volume was about 10% below the daily average of around 10 million shares. The drug maker had now specific news Friday, but Gilead Sciences reported disappointing earnings last night, especially for its hepatitis C drug. Merck owns a competing product and investors are being cautious. Merck reports earnings next Thursday.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 19 are set to close lower Friday and just 11 are on track to close higher.
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