The 4 Stocks That Sank the Market

July 10, 2014 by Paul Ausick

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Source: thinkstock
July 10, 2014: Markets opened lower on Thursday after picking up some solid gains on Wednesday. Traders were nervous after a Portuguese bank said it was delaying a debt payment, but stocks bounced back until dipping again in mid-afternoon. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded down 0.35% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.35%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.43%.

Today’s big loser among the Dow 30 stocks was The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) which traded down 1.65% at $79.40 today, in a 52-week range of $72.21 to $83.20. Volume was about 60% higher than the daily average of around 6.4 million shares traded. The company is taking a hit on poor results and a weak forecast from Lumber Liquidators, even though Home Depot’s market cap is nearly 100-times larger.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) traded down 1.50% at $77.51. The stock’s 52-week range is $62.03 to $80.26. Volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 3.4 million shares traded. Nike has said it will end its equipment contract with British soccer club Manchester United at the end of the coming season.

Oil and gas major Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) traded down 0.89% at $102.63. The stock’s 52-week range is $84.79 to $104.61. Share volume was about 35% below the daily average of around 9.6 million shares traded. The company’s XTO subsidiary is fighting environmental charges in Pennsylvania that XTO says single out the company, a charge the state refuted in a court filing on Wednesday.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) traded lower by 0.65% at $82.20. The stock’s 52-week range is $65.92 to $83.44. Volume was about 40% lower than the daily average of around 4 million shares traded. There was no news on the company today, so this might just have been some profit-taking based on Wednesday’s closing price of $82.74.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 22 are set to close lower today, while just 7 looked to close higher and two are headed to a flat close.

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