McDonald's, Microsoft Weigh on the Dow Wednesday

Investing

Published: June 27, 2018 4:01 pm

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 9:47 pm

June 27, 2018: Markets opened higher again Wednesday but by the afternoon all the gains and more had been given back as investors continue to fret over Trump’s trade policies and how exactly the U.S. will restrict Chinese investment in U.S. firms. The People’s Bank of China lowered the value of the yuan which could do more than any Trumpian policy to restrict investment in the U.S. A U.S. auto industry group is also worried about proposed tariffs on auto imports.

WTI crude oil for August delivery settled at $72.76 a barrel, up about 3.2% on the day. The U.S. oil stockpile fell by a record 9.9 million barrels last week, but exports also reached a record 3 million barrels a day. August gold dropped about 0.3% to settle at $1,256.10, the yellow metal’s lowest settlement to date in 2018. Equities were headed for a lower close about 10 minutes before the bell as the Dow traded down 0.49% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.65%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 1.30%.

Bitcoin futures (XBTN8) for July delivery traded at $6,125, down about 0.7% on the CBOE after opening at $6,190 this morning. The trading range today was $5,980 to $6,190.

The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Wednesday was McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) which traded down 1.87% at $157.91. The 52-range on the stock is $146.84 to $178.70. Volume of around 4 million was about equal to the daily average. The company had no specific news.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded down 1.51% at $97.58. The stock’s 52-week range is $68.02 to $102.69. Volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 28.8 million. The company had no specific news.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) traded down 1.42% at $71.53 in a 52-week range of $50.35 to $75.91. Volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 6.6 million shares. The company reports quarterly earnings Thursday.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) traded down 1.40% at $48.97. The stock’s 52-week range is $33.23 to $57.60. Volume was about equal to the daily average of around 28.5 million shares. The company had no specific news.

Of the Dow stocks, 9 are on track to close higher Wednesday and 21 are set to close lower.