August 27, 2018: Markets opened higher again Monday with the Nasdaq Composite rising above 8,000 for the first time ever and the Dow blowing past 26,000 for another new high. The President’s announcement of a bilateral trade deal with Mexico played a part, as did last Friday’s comments by Fed chair Jerome Powell that interest rate hikes will remain gradual. With the Labor Day holiday coming this weekend, action is likely to be muted in the equities markets.

WTI crude oil for October delivery settled at $68.87 a barrel, up 0.2% on the day. December gold also added 0.2% to settle at $1,216.00. Equities were heading for a higher close about 10 minutes before the bell as the Dow traded up 0.98% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.75%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.86%.

Bitcoin futures (XBTU8) for September delivery traded at $6,730, up about 1.9% on the Cboe after opening at $6,650 this morning. The trading range today was $6,645 to $6,760.

The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Monday was The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) which traded up 3.30% at $242.87. The stock’s 52-week range is $214.64 to $275.31. Volume was about 15% higher than the daily average of around 2.9 million.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) traded up 2.64% at $141.86. The 52-range on the stock is $114.30 to $173.24. Volume was about 10% above the daily average of around 4.4 million.

DowDuPont Inc. (NYSE: DWDP) traded up 2.33% at $70.82. The stock’s 52-week range is $61.27 to $77.08. Volume was about 15% above the daily average of around 7.5 million shares.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) traded up 1.90% at $116.86 in a 52-week range of $88.08 to $119.33. Volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 13.6 million shares.

Of the Dow stocks, 26 were set to close higher Monday and 4 were on track to close lower.

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