May 8, 2018: Markets opened lower Tuesday and trailed along with a small loss until mid-afternoon when Trump announced that he is withdrawing the United States from the nuclear agreement with Iran. Equities have bounced back a bit but remain on track to close with a modest loss. All U.S. sanctions in place prior to the 2015 agreement will be reinstated and Trump said he plans to impose additional economic penalties.
WTI crude oil for June delivery settled at $69.06 a barrel, down 2.4% for the day. The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecast pump prices of $2.97 a gallon in June. June gold added less than 0.1% on the day to settle at $1,314.50. Equities were headed for a virtually flat close about 10 minutes before the bell as the Dow traded down 0.05% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.08%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.07%.
Equity indexes traded very near the break-even line just minutes before the closing bell. The closing tally could show either a small gain or a small loss for any of the indexes.
Bitcoin futures (XBTK8) for May delivery traded at $9,200, down about 2.2% on the CBOE after opening at $9,460 this morning. The trading range today was $9,025 to $9,480.
The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Tuesday was Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) which traded down 1.59% at $46.99. The stock’s 52-week range is $42.80 to $54.77. Volume was about 15% below the daily average of around 16.5 million. The company had no specific news.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) traded down 1.40% at $68.37. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.35 to $70.25. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 7.7 million shares. Four more executives left the company following an internal investigation into allegations of the way the company responded to complaints of workplace harassment. That raises the total number of departures to 10.
The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Tuesday was JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) which traded up 1.59% at $111.11 in a 52-week range of $81.64 to $119.33. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of 15.7 million. The company had no specific news.
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) traded up 1.33% at $126.60. The stock’s 52-week range is $102.55 to $133.88. Volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 7 million shares. The company had no specific news, but the price of oil is expected to rise following the Iran announcement.
Of the Dow stocks, 15 are on track to close higher Tuesday and 15 are set to close lower.
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