August 4, 2017: Markets opened higher Friday following a better-than-expected report on non-farm employment. The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3%. Today’s best performing sectors were financials and energy while utilities lagged. WTI crude oil for September delivery settled at $49.58 a barrel, up 1.1% for the day but the price was down about 0.4% for the week. December gold dropped by 0.8% on the day to settle at $1,264.60. Equities were headed for a higher close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded up 0.19%for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.08%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.03%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Friday was The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) which traded up 2.40% at $229.36. The stock’s 52-week range is $157.77 to $255.15. Volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 3.2million. The company had no specific news.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) traded up 1.30% at $93.70%. The stock’s 52-week range is $64.86 to $94.51. Volume was about a 15% below the daily average of about 13.8 million shares. The big bank had no specific news.
The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) traded up 1.25% at $152.68. The stock’s 52-week range is $119.20 to $160.86. Volume was about 55% below the daily average of around 2.3 million shares. The home improvement giant had no specific news Thursday.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) traded up 0.67% at $31.77. The stock’s 52-week range is $29.12 to $34.60. Volume was about 40% below the daily average of around 21 million shares. The company had no specific news.
Of the Dow stocks, 16 are on track to close higher Friday and 14 are set to close lower.
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