Nike, Verizon Haul the Dow Lower Tuesday

September 4, 2018: Markets opened lower Monday and only the Nasdaq Composite briefly visited green territory this morning at about the time Amazon posted an intraday market cap of $1 trillion. The report on manufacturing activity gave stocks a boost by mid-morning or who knows how far equities would have fallen. Most sectors traded in the red with less than an hour to go until the close. Financials, consumer discretionaries, and utilities were the day’s only gainers

WTI crude oil for October delivery settled at $69.92 a barrel, up 0.2% on the day. December gold dropped 0.6% to settle at $1,199.10. Equities were heading for a lower close about 10 minutes before the bell as the Dow traded down 0.15% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.30%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.32%.

Bitcoin futures (XBTU8) for September delivery traded at $7,355, up about 4.4% on the Cboe after opening at $7,295 this morning. The trading range today was $7,195 to $7,415.

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The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Tuesday was Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) which traded down 2.91% at $79.81. The 52-range on the stock is $50.35 to $83.68. Volume was more than double the daily average of around 6.2 million. The company launched a new ad campaign yesterday featuring NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, about whom opinions differ.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) traded down 2.36% at $53.08. The stock’s 52-week range is $43.97 to $55.21. Volume was about 20% higher than the daily average of around 13.8 million.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) traded down 1.50% at $67.54 in a 52-week range of $59.07 to $83.89. Volume was about half the daily average of around 7.7 million shares.

The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) traded down 1.12% at $110.76. The stock’s 52-week range is $96.20 to $117.90. Volume also was about half the daily average of around 7.6 million shares.

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

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