The 4 Stocks That Kept Markets Higher

April 29, 2014 by Paul Ausick

stock symbol tickerApril 29, 2014: Markets opened higher on Tuesday getting a boost from energy and biotech stocks right at the start of trading. Economic data was both sparse and not supportive, with the Case-Shiller house price index down and the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index also down. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA was up 0.58%, the S&P 500 was up 0.48%, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.71%.

Drug maker Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) reported mixed results this morning, but the 7% rise in profit was enough to give the shares a decent boost. The stock traded up 3.51% at $58.66 and posted a new 52-week high of $58.85. The stock’s 52-week low is $44.60. Share volume was about equal to the daily average of around 11.7 million shares traded.

Dow heavyweight Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) again helped boost the blue chips. Shares traded up 0.78% at $202.96 in a 52-week range of $163.60 to $235.50. Volume was about 25% lower than the daily average of around 3.7 million shares. The consumer finance sector as a whole posted a gain of about 1.4% today, as MasterCard performed about equally with Visa.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) traded today at $101.58, posting a gain of 1.27% shortly before the closing bell. The stock’s 52-week range is $92.22 to $103.34. Share volume was about equal to the daily average of around 5.4 million shares traded. There was no bad news for the Golden Arches today.

ALSO READ: America’s Most (and Least) Common Jobs

Nasdaq and S&P 500 stock Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) traded up 3.46% today at $58.07 in a 52-week range of $22.67 to $72.59. Volume was about equal to the daily average of more than 71 million shares. Momentum could be turning positive for Facebook and it might be able to drag a few other social media companies along with it.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 20 were set to close higher today while 9 look to close lower and 1 was on track to close flat.

ALSO READ: Cities with the Most Content (and Miserable) Workers

 

Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With An Advisor Now (Sponsored)

Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.

Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.

Click here now to get started.