Investing

Pfizer, UnitedHealth Help Buoy DJIA Thursday

Thinkstock

August 3, 2017: Markets opened mixed Thursday and none of the major indexes showed much inclination to stray very far from the break-even line. New claims for unemployment benefits came in as expected and traders are likely waiting for tomorrow’s employment report before making any big decisions. Today’s best performing sectors were Industrials and utilities while energy lagged. WTI crude oil for September delivery settled at $49.03 a barrel, down 1.1% for the day. December gold dropped by 0.3% on the day to settle at $1,274.40. Equities were headed for a mixed close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded up 0.1%for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.26%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.39%.

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 Thursday was Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) which traded up 1.61% at $33.45. The stock’s 52-week range is $29.83 to $35.53. Volume was about 10% above the daily average of around 20 million. The company had no specific news.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) traded up 0.89% at $194.71. The stock’s 52-week range is $132.39 to $194.96 and the high was posted this morning. Volume was about a 25% below the daily average of about 2.9 million shares. The company had no specific news.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was E.I. du Pont de Nemours Inc. (NYSE: DD) which traded down 1.35% at $81.21. The stock’s 52-week range is $66.02 to $86.36. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 2.3 million shares. The industrial company had no specific news Thursday.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) traded down 1.15% at $155.34. The stock’s 52-week range is $102.53 to $159.75. Volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 28 million shares. The company had no specific news, but cast its recent glow over a few other tech stocks.

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

The Average American Has No Idea How Much Money You Can Make Today (Sponsor)

The last few years made people forget how much banks and CD’s can pay. Meanwhile, interest rates have spiked and many can afford to pay you much more, but most are keeping yields low and hoping you won’t notice.

But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying almost 10x the national average! That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe and earn more at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 3.80% with a Checking & Savings Account today Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.

Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes to open an account to make your money work for you.

 

Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 4.00% with a Checking & Savings Account from Sofi. Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.

1 https://www.fdic.gov/national-rates-and-rate-caps

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

AI Portfolio

Discover Our Top AI Stocks

Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.

You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.