May 26, 2016: Markets opened higher again Thursday but both the Dow and the S&P weren’t up to the task of trading higher for long. The S&P 500 finally poked its nose above the break-even line in the mid-afternoon. Wednesday’s leading sectors — energy, materials, and financials — were Thursday’s laggards as utilities and telecom were the leading gainers. WTI crude oil for July delivery settled at $49.48 a barrel, down 0.2% for the day after briefly rising above $50 a barrel for the first time in nearly 7 months. June gold dropped 0.3% on the day to settle at $1,220.40, a second consecutive seven-week low and a seventh straight daily loss. Equities were headed for a mixed close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded down 0.09% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.01%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.19%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (NYSE: DD) which traded down 1.86% at $66.96. The stock’s 52-week range is $47.11 to $75.72. Trading volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 3.4 million shares. The company had no specific news Thursday.
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded down 1.14% at $159.41. The stock’s 52-week range is $139.05 to $218.77. Volume was 20% below the daily average of around 3.5 million shares. The investment bank also had no specific news in this trading session.
3M Company (NYSE: MMM) traded down 0.58% at $169.00. The stock’s 52-week range is $134.00 to $171.27. Trading volume was about 40% below the daily average of around 2 million. The company won a patent infringement case in Germany.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) traded down 0.50% at $89.81. The stock’s 52-week range is $66.55 to $90.46, and the high was was posted early this morning. Volume was about 40% below the daily average of around 12 million shares.The price of crude rose above $50 a barrel early this morning before pulling back.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 15 are set to close lower Thursday and 15 are on track to close higher.
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