July 7, 2014: Markets opened mixed on Monday following the Independence Day holiday weekend. The S&P 500 and the DJIA never rose above the break-even line and the Nasdaq Composite joined the downturn by mid-morning. There was no economic data today and there is little out tomorrow. Tomorrow’s big event is Alcoa’s kickoff to the second quarter earnings season. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded down 0.31% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.45%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.82%.
Today’s big loser among the Dow 30 stocks was UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) which traded down 1.32% at $82.25. The stock’s 52-week range is $65.27 to $83.44. Share volume was about 50% below the daily average of around 4.1 million shares traded. The company had no news today..
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) also traded down 1.04% at $167.71 today, in a 52-week range of $151.33 to $181.13. Volume was about 50% below the daily average of around 2.8million shares traded. The company had no news of note today, but the entire healthcare sector was down more than 0.8% today. The company had no news today, and like healthcare stocks, the financial sector was down more than 0.8% today.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) traded down 0.91% today at $110.07. The stock’s 52-week range is $81.35 to $116.16. Volume was about 45% below the daily average of around 4 million shares traded. There was again no news on Caterpillar today, but the share price drop may have been due to some profit taking.
McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) traded lower by 0.89% at $100.08. The stock’s 52-week range is $92.22 to $103.78. Volume was about 25% lower than the daily average of around 4.5 million shares traded. Again, there was no news on the company today, but the services sector was also down by about 0.5% today.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 19 closed lower today and 11 closed higher.
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