May 1, 2017: Markets opened higher on Monday following an agreement that keeps the federal government solvent through the end of September. Blue chips have shown very little gain today, with telecom and utilities performing worst and tech and financials performing best. WTI crude oil for June delivery settled at $48.84 a barrel, down 1% on the day. June gold also dropped 1% for the day to settle at $1,255.50. Equities were headed for a narrowly higher close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded up 0.06% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.35%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.84%.
The DJIA traded very near the break-even line just minutes before the closing bell. The closing tally could finish with either a small gain or a small loss for any or all of the indexes.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Monday was Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: APPL) which traded up 2.38% at $147.07. The stock’s 52-week range is $89.47 to $147.09, a new high posted this afternoon. Volume was about equal to the daily average of around 24.8 million shares. The tech giant is set to post quarterly earnings after markets close on Tuesday, and analysts and investors are expecting good news.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded up 1.24% at $69.31. The stock’s 52-week range is $48.04 to $69.46, a new high set this afternoon as well. Volume was about equal to the daily average of around 22.3 million shares. The company is expected to announce both new hardware and software products tomorrow.
McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) traded up 0.97% at $141.29. The stock’s 52-week range is $110.33 to $142.79. Volume was about a 25% below the daily average of around 3.8 million. The company had no specific news Monday.
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded up 0.63% at $225.2. The stock’s 52-week range is $138.20 to $255.15. Volume was about 35% below the daily average of around 3.9 million shares. The investment bank had no specific news Monday.
Of the Dow stocks, 17 are on track to close higher Monday and 13 are set to close lower.
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