January 29, 2014: Markets opened lower on Wednesday following Tuesday’s late policy rate hike by the Turkish government. The announcement that the Fed will again reduce its asset purchases added more volatility and downward pressure in late afternoon trading. The DJIA closed down 1.19%, the S&P 500 closed down 1.02%, and the Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.14%.

The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) led the DJIA losers by a wide margin today, down 5.15% for the day following a fourth-quarter report that came in better than expected, but 2014 guidance was disappointing. Really disappointing, apparently, given the sell-off. Shares of Boeing closed at $130.03 in a 52-week range of $73.73 to $144.57. Volume was about 3.5-times the daily average of around 4 million shares.

Another DJIA stock stomping on the index today was The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), down 2.5% to close at $37.90 in a 52-week range of $36.54 to $43.43. The soft drink company had no news today, but the consumer goods sector was the hardest hit today, especially beer and soft drink stocks. Wednesday’s volume was roughly 62% above the daily average of around 13.6 million shares.

The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) fell 2.5% today to close at $76.68 in a 52-week range of $63.82 to $82.57. News from the housing market has been no better than mixed recently and consumer confidence remains soft though improving. Remodeling projects typically have to wait for more favorable conditions — and better weather helps too. The stock’s volume was nearly 20% higher than the daily average of around 6.4 million shares traded.

Machinery maker Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) lost 2% to close at $90.62 in a 52-week range of $79.49 to $99.70. Cat’s stock jumped about $5 a share on Monday when the company reported generally awful results that showed promise of improving. Some of that optimism has drifted away in the past couple of days. Volume was about 70% higher than the daily average of around 32 million shares traded.

Of the Dow 30 stocks only 4 closed higher today while 26 closed lower.

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