October 3, 2016: Markets opened lower Monday following a nice gain on Friday. No sector traded in the green this afternoon, with real estate and utilities the laggards. Profit taking or a more bearish turn? There are plenty of reasons for investors to be cautious. WTI crude oil for November delivery settled at $48.24 a barrel, up 0.9% for the day. WTI futures gained 1.2% for the day and settled at $48.81 a barrel. December gold closed down 0.3% on the day to settle at $1,312.70. Equities were headed for a lower close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded down by 0.24% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.30%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.21%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Monday was The Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV) which traded down 1.25% at $113.11. The stock’s 52-week range is $100.48 to $119.32. Trading volume was less than 30% below the daily average of around 1.4 million. The insurance company had no specific news Monday.
The Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) traded down 1.21% at $88.65. The stock’s 52-week range is $72.50 to $90.22. Volume was about 30% higher than the daily average of around 18.5 million shares. The company officially shed its Cover Girl and 40 other beauty and cosmetics lines this morning.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) traded down 1.19% at $138.34. The stock’s 52-week range is $107.51 to $144.48. Volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 2.9 million shares. No specific news on the health insurance giant either.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) traded down 0.71% at $157.73. The stock’s 52-week range is $116.90 to $165.00. Volume was about half the daily average of around 1.7 million shares. The technology company had no specific news Monday.
Of the 30 Dow index stocks 8 are on track to close higher Monday and 22 are set to close lower.
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