December 13, 2013: Markets opened higher on Friday morning but struggled to hold onto those gains throughout the day. It was very close, but the three major indexes did manage only a mixed close. The DJIA closed up 0.10%, the S&P 500 closed down 0.01%, and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.06%.

Among heavily traded DJIA stocks, today’s big gainer was Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) which got a boost from a court ruling approving the $7.65 billion swipe-fee settlement among merchants, Visa, and MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA). Visa traded just over its daily average of 3.2 million shares and closed at $207.36, up 1.93%, in a 52-week range of $146.25 to $208.00. The 52-week high was set in the last hour of trading today.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) opened higher this morning but the shares changed direction quickly and remained down for the rest of the day. Perhaps the company’s reported overtures to a Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) executive as Microsoft’s new CEO contributed to the slide after Qualcomm named the exec its own next CEO. Share volume was substantially below the daily average of 44 million. The stock closed down 1.42% at $36.69 in a 52-week range of $26.28 to $38.98.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) opened slightly lower this morning, and aside from a brief burst above its flat line, trailed further down throughout the day. Shares traded about 10% above the stock’s average daily volume of 44 million. Just more fallout from yesterday’s announced cuts to its long-term earnings and revenue targets. Shares closed down 1.32% at $20.24 in a 52-week range of $19.31 to $26.49.

Shares of Dow component General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) started the day relatively flat but an announcement that the company would raise its quarterly dividend by $0.03 a share to $0.22 boosted shares just before noon. Volume was slightly above the daily average of 37 million. The stock closed up 1.13% at $26.84 in a 52-week range of $20.26 to $27.50.

No other DJIA stock moved more than 1% in any direction. All told, 15 stocks closed lower and 14 closed higher, with one unchanged.

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