24/7 Wall St.

March 13, 2017: The S&P 500 closed barely higher on the day up 0.04% and 0.87 points at 2,373.47. Separately the DJIA closed slightly lower 0.10% on the day at 20,881.48, down approximately 21.50 points. Overall this was brought about by the financial sector with help from some of the smaller stocks in the tech sector. Most of the weakness we saw in the S&P 500 on Monday came from oil and gas, apparel stores, and airlines. A few very large companies pulled down the index as well even if they were the only ones in their industry doing so. Otherwise, the market was relatively flat.

Crude oil continued to fall if only slightly. Oil closed 0.16% lower at $48.41.

Gold was relatively flat on the day increasing only 0.22% or $2.70, still holding barely above $1,200, at $1,204.10.

As we have said before, the financial sector helped pull the S&P up along with most of the smaller tech stocks in the index. At first glance, this pick up in the tech sector bodes well for the future and it’s always good to see financials rally so that the market can get some legs under itself.

The only industries that had weak performance across the board were airlines, apparel stores, and oil and gas, but there were a few other select stocks with massive pull, which slowed the market. The other companies that pulled the Index down on the day included Merck, Intel, GE, and Bristol-Myers.

The S&P 500 stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Monday was Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) which traded down 3.5% at $24.29. The stock’s 52-week range is $22.87 to $40.80. Volume was 4.47 million versus the daily average of 2.59 million shares. The company saw its shares drop following a continued negative sentiment from its recent earnings report and a Friday decision from S&P to drop the stock from the S&P 500 Index.

The stock posting the largest daily percentage gain in the S&P 500 ahead of the close Monday was Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) which jumped 6.8% to $84.93. The stock’s 52-week range is $59.72 to $87.99. Volume was 5.19 million which is well above the daily average of around 2.09 million shares.