July 27, 2018: Markets opened barely higher Friday before heading south in early trading and spending the rest of the day in the red. Even a first reading on Q2 GDP growth of 4.1% could not offset the bad vibes from this morning’s energy giants’ earnings reports. The worst-performing sector was tech, where Facebook hasn’t stopped bleeding yet and Twitter is just getting started.
WTI crude oil for September delivery settled at $68.69 a barrel, down 1.3% for the day. August gold settled down 0.2% at $1,223.00 for a third-straight weekly loss. Equities were heading for a lower close about 10 minutes before the bell as the Dow traded down 0.34% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.68%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 1.43%.
Bitcoin futures (XBTQ8) for August delivery traded at $8,225, down about 0.4% on the CBOE after opening at $8,025 this morning. The trading range today was $7,775 to $8,275.
The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Friday was Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) which traded down 8.75% at $47.60 in a 52-week range of $33.23 to $57.60. Volume was about double the daily average of around 28 million shares. The chipmaking giant reported disappointing numbers Thursday evening.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) traded down 3.17% at $81.57. The stock’s 52-week range is $72.16 to $89.30. Volume was about a 20% above the daily average of around 12 million shares. The energy giant failed to please investors this morning.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) traded down 2.21% at $42.57. The 52-range on the stock is $30.36 to $46.37. Volume of around 17 million was about 25% below the daily average.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded down 1.93% at $107.51. The stock’s 52-week range is $71.28 to $111.15. Volume was about 20% above the daily average of around 26 million.
Of the Dow stocks, 13 were set to close higher Friday and 17 were on track to close lower.
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