February 4, 2014: Markets opened higher on Tuesday following a crushing on Monday that saw all three major indexes put up at least a 2% loss on the day. Equities got some help from a weaker yen, but there was no big news to set off the mini-buying spree. The Dow did not quite return to its 200-day moving average nor did the S&P 500 reconquer its 100-day moving average. The DJIA closed up 0.47%, the S&P 500 closed up 0.76%, and the Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.86%.

Among Dow stocks, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) posted today’s biggest gain, up 2.71% to close at $31.43 in a 52-week range of $26.79 to $32.50. The company reported a successful phase II trial for its breast cancer treatment and the stock was upgraded to Buy this morning by an analyst at Jefferies. Pfizer’s volume today was nearly 70% higher than the daily average of around 25 million shares.

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (NYSE: DD) posted a nearly equally sized gain to Pfizer’s, up 2.7% to close at $61.61. The company announced that its chief marketing and sales officer resigned “to pursue another opportunity,” but that’s hardly enough to push shares up this much. The stock’s 52-week range is $46.02 to $65.00. Trading volume was more than 3-times the daily average of around 4.2 million shares traded.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) gained 2.28% for the day to close at $126.72 in a 52-week range of $101.08 to $140.43. What DuPont, Pfizer, and 3M all have in common are reliable and relatively meaty dividend payments. With emerging markets looking shaky, investors could just be parking their money in stocks that pay better interest than banks and are nearly as safe. Volume was more than double the daily average of around 3 million shares.

One of the worst performers among all equities today was J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP). The company reported preliminary same-store sales for its holiday season and fourth quarter this morning, but the numbers were weak and analysts at Sterne Agee just hammered the stock, putting a $3 price target on it.. Shares closed down 10.56% at $5.08 after setting a new 52-week low of $4.90, a level not seen by shareholders since the early 1980s. The 52-week high is $23.10. Volume was about 3-times the daily average of nearly 32 million shares.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 11 closed lower today while 19 closed higher.

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