December 20, 2016: Markets opened higher again Tuesday and the DJIA once again flirted with 20,000, but stopped short at a new record of just under 19,988. Leading sectors included financials and consumer discretionaries; laggards  were consumer staples and real estate.. WTI crude oil for January delivery settled at $53.30 a barrel, up about 0.5% on the day. February gold dropped 0.8% on the day to settle at $1,133.60. Equities were headed for a higher close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded up 0.39% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.26%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.39%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Tuesday was Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) which traded up 1.99% at $51.86. The stock’s 52-week range is $XX to $97.40. Volume was about 10% above the daily average of around 9.6 million shares. The company reports earnings after the bell Tuesday.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) traded up 1.61% at $94.21. The stock’s 52-week range is $56.36 to $97.40. Volume was about 35.% below the daily average of around 28 million shares. The company reported another month of poor retail sales, but hopes for the stock are rising.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded up 1.51% at $242.67. The stock’s 52-week range is $138.20 to $245.57. Volume was about 15% below the daily average of around 3.9 million shares. The bank had no specific news Tuesday.

The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) traded up 1.10% at $136.93. The stock’s 52-week range is $109.62 to $139.00. Volume was about 35% below the daily average of around 5.5 million shares. The home improvement giant had no specific news.

Of the Dow 30 stocks, 22 are on track to close higher Tuesday and 8 are set to close lower.

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