June 21, 2017: Markets opened slightly higher Wednesday but both the DJIA and S&P 500 quickly dipped into the red and both have spent much of the day there. Solid earnings from FedEx last night did not offset the tumble in crude oil prices that followed the EIA’s weekly inventory report. Energy and telecom stocks were the day’s biggest losers, while healthcare and tech stocks were the best performers. WTI crude oil for August delivery settled at $42.53 a barrel, down 2.3% on the day. August gold added 0.2% for the day to settle at $1,245.80. Equities were headed for a mixed close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded down 0.23% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.05%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.74%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Wednesday was Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) which traded down 3.31% at $103.50. The stock’s 52-week range is $70.53 to $108.18. Volume was about equal to the daily average of around 4.9 million shares. The heavy equipment maker had no specific news.
E.I. du Pont de Nemours Inc. (NYSE: DD) traded down 2.49% at $81.05. The stock’s 52-week range is $61.12 to $83.93. Volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 2.7 million. The company had no specific news.
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Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) traded down 1.91% at $104.45. The stock’s 52-week range is $97.53 to $119.00. Volume was less than 10% below the daily average of around 5.7 million shares. The company’s price target was cut from $125 to $105 at Macquarie this morning, and the rating was cut from Outperform to Neutral.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) traded down 1.39% at $27.74. The stock’s 52-week range is $27.10 to $33.00. Volume was about 35% below the daily average of around 36 million shares. The company has taken a solid number of orders for its commercial jet engines at the Paris Air Show, but investors remain wary.
Of the Dow stocks, 12 are on track to close higher Wednesday and 18 are set to close lower.
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