June 30, 2016: Markets opened higher again for a third straight day Thursday as the dollar continued to gain strength, pushing down oil prices. The Bank of England said it may launch another easing round and that put the risk-on trades back on the table. Leading sectors on Thursday were consumer staples and industrials. WTI crude oil for August delivery settled at $48.33 a barrel, down 3.3% for the day. In the first half of the year, however, crude has added 30%. August gold slipped 0.5% on the day to settle at $1,320.60, but like gold, has posted a big gain (nearly 25%) for the year to date. Equities were headed for a higher close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded up 1.06% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 1.10%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 1.07%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Thursday was General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) which traded up 2.95% at $31.45. The stock’s 52-week range is $19.37 to $32.05. Volume was about 20% above the daily average of around 33 million shares. The industrial giant has finally been able to disassociate GE Capital with the words “too big to fail.”
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) traded up 2.55% at $32.74. The stock’s 52-week range is $24.87 to $35.59. Trading volume was about 10% higher than the daily average of around 22 million. The company is reportedly working on driverless car technology with BMW and Mobileye.
The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) traded up 1.95% at $129.46. The stock’s 52-week range is $102.10 to $150.59. Trading volume was about 40% below the daily average of around 4.5 million shares. The aerospace giant is reportedly considering a stretched version of its 777-9X to compete more directly against the Airbus A380.
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International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) traded up 1.85% at $151.21. The stock’s 52-week range is $116.90 to $173.78. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 3.9 million shares. The company had no specific news Thursday.
Of the 30 Dow stocks 28 are set to close higher Thursday and just 2 are on track to close lower.
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