February 3, 2017: Markets opened higher Friday and rose more or less steadily all day. The report on employment was stronger than expected in new jobs, but a little weak on wage growth. A Trump ordered rollback of financial regulations shoved financial stocks higher today. Only the consumer discretionary stocks traded lower Friday, as gains were spread generously. WTI crude oil for March delivery settled at $53.83 a barrel, up about 0.5% on the day and up about 0.7% for the week. April gold added 0.1% on the day to settle at $1,220.80, up 2.5% on the week. Equities were headed for a higher close close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded up 0.97% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.75%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.51%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Friday was Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) which traded up 4.94% at $86.36. The stock’s 52-week range is $66.12 to $86.82, a new 52-week high posted earlier in this session. Volume was about 2.5 times the daily average of around 10.2 million shares. The credit card issuer had no specific news.
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded up 4.42% at $240.60. The stock’s 52-week range is $138.20 to $247.77. Volume was about 50% above the daily average of around 4.4 million shares. The company had no specific news.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) traded up 3.06% at $87.18. The stock’s 52-week range is $52.50 to $88.17. Volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 18.4 million shares. The big bank had no specific news Friday.
American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) traded up 2.14% at $78.15. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.27 to $78.42, a new 52-week high posted this morning. Volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 4.5 million shares. The company had no specific news.
Of the Dow 30 stocks, 23 are on track to close higher Friday and 7 are set to close lower.
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