September 18, 2014: Markets opened higher on Thursday following the announcement of a sharp drop in new claims for unemployment benefits last week, but a somewhat less upbeat report on new housing starts, which ended up well shy of expectations. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded up 0.67% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.49%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.59%. Both the S&P 500 and the DJIA posted record highs today.

The Dow 30 stock posting the biggest percentage gain today was once again E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (NYSE: DD) which traded up 2.81% at $71.19 and posted a new 52-week high of $71.42 earlier in the afternoon. The stock’s new 52-week range is $56.46 to $71.42. Activist investor Nelson Peltz’s letter urging DuPont to split itself into two pieces sent yesterday continues to buoy the stock price. Trading volume was nearly 3-times higher than the daily average of around 3.7 million shares.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded up 1.75% at $188.00 in a 52-week range of $151.65 to a new high set today of $188.43. Volume was about 10% higher than the daily average of  2.4 million shares. The financial sector gets another boost this morning from Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen’s comments yesterday that interest rates will remain low for a “considerable” time yet.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) traded up 1.69% at $61.33 in a 52-week range of $50.06 to $61.48. Trading volume was about equal to the daily average of around 12.7 million shares. Like Goldman, the big bank is warmed in the glow of Fed largesse.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) traded higher by 1.29% at $90.23 today. The stock’s 52-week range is $72.08 to $96.24. Volume was about 10% below the daily average of around 3.4 million shares. The company has lost the Canadian credit-card business it had with Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) to Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF). Strangely the news didn’t hit the stock which, like the other financials among the Dow 30, were top performers today.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 27 stocks are set to close higher today and just 3 are on track to close lower.

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