December 16, 2014: Markets opened lower on Tuesday after Russia raised its lending rate to 17% in an effort to support the ruble and oil opened down more than 2%. But oil rallied and pulled the major indexes up with it, reaching a peak for the day just before noon. Then the indexes sagged through the afternoon to finish down for the day. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded down 0.38% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.59%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.99%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily loss ahead of the close Tuesday was Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded down 2.88% at $45.33. The stock’s 52-week range is $34.63 to $50.05. Volume was about 10% above the daily average of around 34 million shares. The stock was downgraded by a BofA analyst from Neutral to Underperform.

The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) traded down 2.72% at $97.33. The stock’s 52-week range is $73.96 to $101.40. Trading volume about equal to the daily average of around 6 million shares. There was no specific news today for the company.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) traded down 2.09% at $96.22. The stock’s 52-week range is $69.57 to $101.33. Trading volume was about 15% below the daily average of around 8 million shares. The company had no specific news today.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) traded lower by 1.72% at $93.79. The stock’s 52-week range is $69.85 to $99.76. Volume was about 75% above the daily average of around 3.8 million shares. The company had no specific news today, but all the news today is pumping up the company’s competitors.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 18 are set to close lower today and 12 are on track to close higher.

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