December 16, 2016: Markets opened higher again Friday but equities seemed to prefer trading sideways for most of the afternoon. Among the sectors, utilities and real estate performed best while tech and financials lagged. WTI crude oil for January delivery settled at $51.90 a barrel, up about 2% on the day to close the week up about 0.8%. February gold added 0.7% on the day to settle at $1,137.40, closing the week down 2.1%. Equities were headed for a slightly lower close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded down 0.03% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.33%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.54%. Stocks were trading very near the break even line and the closing bell might see some last-second shifts in which side of the line the indexes close on.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Friday was Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) which traded down 1.99% at $92.65. The stock’s 52-week range is $56.36 to $97.40. Volume was about 15% below the daily average of around 5.3 million shares. The company is had no specific news.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded down 1.48% at $239.40. The stock’s 52-week range is $138.20 to $245.57. Volume was about 20% above the daily average of around 3.8 million shares. The company had no specific news.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) traded down 1.48% at $78.32. The stock’s 52-week range is $66.12 to $83.96. Volume was about 30% above the daily average of around 10.3 million shares. The credit card issuer also had no specific news Friday.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) traded down 1.40% at $36.28. The stock’s 52-week range is $27.68 to $38.36. Volume was nearly equal to the daily average of around 22 million shares. The semiconductor giant had no specific news Friday.

Of the Dow 30 stocks, 10 are on track to close higher Friday and 20 are set to close lower.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.