April 11, 2014: Markets opened lower on Friday with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite breaking into positive territory late in the morning. Unfortunately neither index could hold the gain as investors appear to believe that a major correction may be in the works. At the close of trading today the DJIA was down 0.73%, the S&P 500 was down 0.82%, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.26%.

The financial services sector was hit hard today thanks to a weak earnings report from Dow stock JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). The big bank traded at $55.47 posting a drop of 3.35% shortly before today’s closing bell. The stock’s 52-week range is $46.05 to $61.48. Share volume was about double the daily average of nearly 20 million shares traded. The bank’s mortgage lending business tanked in the first quarter, down 68% year-over-year.

The Dow’s most heavily weighted stock, Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) traded down 2.37% at $196.73 in a 52-week range of $161.27 to $235.50. The weak showing by JPMorgan has surely spilled over to Visa which will report first-quarter results on April 24th. Volume was about 65% higher than the daily average of around 3.6 million shares traded.

The third-worst performing Dow 30 stock today was The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS). The bank reports results next Thursday and today’s showing by Morgan didn’t sit well with investors. The stock traded at $152.96, down 1.97% in a 52-week range of $137.29 to $181.13. Volume was nearly 45% above the daily average of around 3.6 million shares traded.

The big loser on the Nasdaq 100 today was Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) which slipped 3.17% and traded at $439.24 in a 52-week range of $351.14 to $541.23. Volume was about less than 10% below the daily average of around 650,000 shares traded. The company cut its earnings estimates Wednesday night and the shares are down about 10% since.

But on the Nasdaq, what one biotech gave away, another put back. Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) traded up 1.23% at $66.28 on Friday in a 52-week range of $46.70 to $84.88. Shares fell 7% yesterday on word of a challenge to Gilead’s cancer drug from Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK). Trading volume was more than double the daily average of about 15 million shares.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 22 closed lower today and just 8 closed higher.

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