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July 18, 2017: Markets opened lower Tuesday and never strayed far from the break-even line. There was no significant economic news today other than a weakening dollar brought on by a failure of the Republican healthcare bill. The ripple effect hit crude oil prices and kept the price hike for crude from rising further. WTI crude oil for August delivery settled at $46.40 a barrel, up 0.8% on the day. August gold added 0.7% on the day to settle at $1,241.90. Equities were headed for a mixed close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded down 0.28% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.02%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.38%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Tuesday was The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) which traded down 2.55% at $223.46. The stock’s 52-week range is $155.37 to $255.15. Volume was about 60% higher than the daily average of about 3.5 million shares. The company reported results this morning that included a 40% drop in bond trading revenues.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) traded down 1.07% at $153.60. The stock’s 52-week range is $110.33 to $156.75. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 3.4 million. The company had no specific news Monday.

The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) also traded down 1.07% at $152.22. The stock’s 52-week range is $119.20 to $160.86. Volume was 30% below the daily average of around 4.4 million shares. The company had no specific news.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) traded down 0.98% at $107.00. The stock’s 52-week range is $78.34 to $110.00. Volume was around 40% below the daily average of around 4.8 million shares. The company had no specific news Tuesday.

Of the Dow stocks, 11 are on track to close higher Tuesday and 19 are set to close lower.