December 15, 2016: Markets opened slightly higher Thursday following Wednesday afternoon’s Fed rate hike and the promise of more to come next. A stronger dollar held crude prices in check. As nearly every day since the November elections, the financial sector is leading again today with telecom as and materials also doing well. Only the real estate and consumer discretionary sectors are trading lower late Thursday. WTI crude oil for January delivery settled at $50.90 a barrel, down 0.3% on the day. February gold dropped 2.9% on the day to settle at $1,129.80, a 10-month low. Equities were headed for a higher close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded up 0.33% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.41%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.43%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Thursday was JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) which traded up 1.56% at $86.05. The stock’s 52-week range is $52.50 to $86.49, a new high posted earlier today. Trading volume was about 15% below the daily average of around 17.7 million. The big bank had no specific news.
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded up 1.51% at $243.56. The stock’s 52-week range is $138.20 to $245.57, a new high set earlier in the session. Volume was about 10% above the daily average of around 3.7 million shares. The company had no specific news.
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (NYSE: DD) traded up 1.49% at $74.81. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.88 to $75.67. Volume was just higher than the daily average of around 2.9 million shares. The company is selling its food safety diagnostics business..
American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) traded up 1.35% at $75.07. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.27 to $75.73, another financial stock posting a new high today. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 4.8 million shares. The credit card issuer company also had no specific news Thursday.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 20 are on track to close higher Thursday and 10 are set to close lower.
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