December 22, 2016: Markets opened lower Thursday and never made the trip to the green side of the line. The telecom and energy sectors traded in the green, but consumer stocks, materials, and tech all traded lower. WTI crude oil for February delivery settled at $52.95 a barrel, up about 0.9% on the day. February gold dropped about 0.2% on the day to settle at $1,130.70. Equities were headed for a lower close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded down 0.15% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.23%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.51%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) which traded down 2.41% at $69.52. The stock’s 52-week range is $60.20 to $75.19. Volume was equal to the daily average of around 8.7 million shares. The company had no specific news Wednesday, but today’s chatter about possible tariffs did no good for the world’s largest retailer.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) traded down 1.00% at $115.89. The stock’s 52-week range is $89.47 to $118.69. Volume was about 40% below the daily average of around 33.3 million shares. The company received another round of patent infringement lawsuits from Nokia this morning.
The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) traded down 1.10% at $135.32. The stock’s 52-week range is $109.62 to $139.00. Volume was half the daily average of around 5.4 million shares. The company had no specific news Thursday.
American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) traded down 0.93% at $74.62. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.27 to $75.74. Volume was less than half the daily average of around 4.8 million shares. The financial services firm had no specific news.
Of the Dow 30 stocks, 11 are on track to close higher Thursday and 19 are set to close lower.
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