September 18, 2018: Markets opened higher Tuesday and all three major indexes are on track to post a decent gain for the day. Investors continue to find reasons to downplay the U.S.-China trade spat-soon-become-a-full-fledged-war and focus instead on the strong U.S. economy. The telecom and consumer discretionary stocks were the day’s leading gainers while consumer staples and real estate lagged
WTI crude oil for October delivery settled at $69.85 a barrel, up about 1.4% on the day. December gold dropped about 0.2% to settle at $1,202.90. Equities were heading for a higher close about 10 minutes before the bell as the Dow traded up 0.75% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.57%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.83%.
Bitcoin futures (XBTU8) for September delivery traded at $6,310, up about 1.4% on the Cboe after opening at $6,210 this morning. The trading range today was $6,185 to $6,375.
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The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Tuesday was Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) which traded up 2.38% at $85.24. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.35 to $85.35, and the high was posted this afternoon. Volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 6.6 million shares.
The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) traded up 2.25% at $363.97 in a 52-week range of $251.17 to $374.48. Volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 3.1 million shares. The mayor of Renton, Washington, home of Boeing’s 737 assembly plant, said the company wants to raise production to 63 a month at the facility.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) traded up 1.98% at $46.32. The 52-range on the stock is $36.66 to $57.60. Volume was about 40% below the daily average of around 24.5 million.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) also traded up 1.98% at $149.11. The stock’s 52-week range is $123.62 to $173.24. Volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 4.5 million.
Of the Dow stocks, 25 were set to close higher Tuesday and 5 were on track to close lower.
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