July 9, 2018: Markets opened higher Monday to continue a solid run that began last Friday. Financial stocks, industrials, and energy led the equity sectors in gains while utilities took a sharp hit. Rising stock prices indicate that investors are putting more emphasis on the strong U.S. economy than on the nascent trade war.
WTI crude oil for August delivery settled at $73.85 a barrel, up 5 cents on the day. August gold settled up 0.3% at $1,259.60. Equities were heading for a higher close about 10 minutes before the bell as the Dow traded up 1.30% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.85%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.81%.
Bitcoin futures (XBTN8) for July delivery traded at $6,700, up 1.9% on the CBOE after opening at $6,760 this morning. The trading range today was $6,650 to $6,770.
The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Monday was Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) which traded up 4.02% at $140.85. The 52-range on the stock is $105.11 to $173.24. Volume of around 4.5 million was equal to the daily average.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) traded up 3.08% at $107.2676. The stock’s 52-week range is $88.08 to $119.33. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 14.4 million.
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded up 2.84% at $228.10. The stock’s 52-week range is $214.64 to $275.31. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 3 million shares.
The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) traded up 2.43% at $342.71 in a 52-week range of $202.19 to $374.48. Volume was about 30% higher than the daily average of around 2.6 million shares.
Of the Dow stocks, 25 were set to close higher Monday and 5 were on track to close lower.
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