Boeing, Caterpillar Lift the Dow Monday

May 21, 2018: Markets opened higher Monday following a weekend where tensions with China over tariffs and trade eased substantially even though no final deal appears to be near.  10-Year Treasury yields remain above 3% and the dollar traded higher. All equity sectors except healthcare were trading higher as Monday’s regular session wound down.

WTI crude oil for June delivery settled at $72.24 a barrel, up about 1.4% for its highest settlement since November 2014. June gold dropped less than 0.1% on the day to settle at $1,2990.90 but closed the week down 2.2%. Equities were headed for a higher close about 10 minutes before the bell as the Dow traded up 1.10% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.62%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.36%.

Bitcoin futures (XBTM8) for June delivery traded at $8,390, up about 1.7% on the CBOE after opening at $8,500 this morning. The trading range today was $8,335 to $8,610.

The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Friday was The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) which traded up 3.49% at $363.49 in a 52-week range of $182.52 to $371.60. Volume was just above the daily average of around 5.16 million shares. The company had no specific news, but an easing of tensions with China helps this country’s largest exporter.

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Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) traded up 2.13% at $159.02. The stock’s 52-week range is $101.81 to $173.24. Volume was about equal to the daily average of around 5.4 million. The company had no specific news today, but another big exporter gets a bump from the easing of tensions with China.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) traded up 2.15% at $127.88. The stock’s 52-week range is $109.10 to $139.24. Volume was about 10% below the daily average of around 4.5 million shares. The company had no specific news.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) traded up 1.64% at $15.22. The stock’s 52-week range is $12.73 to $29.47. Volume was about 15% below the daily average of 71.6 million. The company announced a deal for its transportation division this morning.

Of the Dow stocks, 27 are on track to close higher Monday and just 3 are set to close lower.

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