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December 7, 2017: Markets opened slightly higher Thursday and traded in the green all day. Investors are waiting to hear tomorrow’s report on non-farm payrolls. The effect on stock prices is likely to be small, however, as the Fed is expected to raise interest rates regardless next week and the hike is already baked into stock prices. WTI crude oil for January delivery settled at $56.69 a barrel, up 1.3% for the day. February gold dropped 1% on the day to settle at $1,253.10. Equities were headed for a higher close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded up 0.25% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.25%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.52%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Thursday was Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) traded up 1.73% at $142.77. The stock’s 52-week range is $90.34 to $145.19. Volume was about 35% lower than the daily average of around 3.5 million shares. The company had no specific news.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) traded up 1.51% at $60.63. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.35 to $61.21. Volume was about 60% below the daily average of around 10.3 million shares. The athletic gear maker had no specific news.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) traded up 1.41% at $111.28. The stock’s 52-week range is $77.19 to $113.62. Volume was about about 35% below the daily average of around 7.1 million shares. The credit card issuer had no specific news.

The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) which traded up 1.40% at $282.17. The stock’s 52-week range is $153.06 to $284.79. The high was posted this afternoon. Volume was about 10% above the daily average of around 3.1 million. The company had no specific news, but the CEO said that Boeing would beat Elon Musk’s SpaceX to Mars.

Of the Dow stocks, 16 are on track to close higher Thursday and 14 are set to close lower.