July 22, 2016: Markets opened higher Friday and the party continued all day. Leading the day’s gains were the telecom and utilities sectors while industrials was with only sector trading in the red as the closing bell approaches. WTI crude oil for September delivery settled at $44.19 a barrel, down 1.3% for the day and down 3.8% for the week. August gold dipped by 0.6% on the day to settle at $1,323.40, down just 0.3% for the week. Equities were headed for a higher close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded up 0.26% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.44%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.49%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Friday was American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) traded up 1.42% at $64.33. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.27 to $81.66. Volume was about 40% below the daily average of around 5 million shares. The company had no specific news.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) traded up 1.41% at $79.90. The stock’s 52-week range is $60.00 to $81.73. Volume was about 10% above the daily average of around 9 million shares. The credit card issuer announced a well-liked deal with PayPal this morning.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) which traded up 1.32% at $56.33. The stock’s 52-week range is $39.72 to $56.85. Trading volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 34 million. The company had no specific news Friday.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) traded up 1.19% at $56.03. The stock’s 52-week range is $38.06 to $56.95. Trading volume was about 35% below the daily average of 13.2 million shares. Speculation is high that Verizon is the leading candidate to acquire Yahoo’s core business.
Of the 30 Dow index stocks 22 are on track to close higher Friday and 8 are set to close lower.

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