September 3, 2014: Markets opened higher on Wednesday following a report — later said to be inaccurate — of a cease-fire in Ukraine. Equities have drifted lower all day. The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book was released this afternoon, weighing shares down even more, led by weakness in tech stocks and consumer services stocks. Shortly before closing today the DJIA traded up 0.02% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.16%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.65%.

The Dow 30 stock posting the biggest percentage loss again today was The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) which traded down 2.18% at $89.17 in a 52-week range of $72.21 to $93.52. The company yesterday revealed a possible breach of customer credit and debit card data. Trading volume reached about 2.5-times the daily average of 6.5 million shares.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) traded down 0.54% at $108.36 in a 52-week range of $81.72 to $111.46. The heavy equipment maker had no news today.Volume was about 10% below the daily average of around 3.8 million shares traded.

With the market trading very close to the flat line today, we thought we’d look at two of Dow stocks that are trading higher. Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) traded up 1.19% at $60.49 in a 52-week range of $44.62 to $60.86. Volume was about 10% below the daily average of around 8 million shares traded. The company said yesterday it would present data later this month on clinical trials of its gastric and bladder cancer treatment.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) traded higher by 0.60% at $99.08 today. The stock’s 52-week range is $84.79 to $104.76. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 9 million shares traded. The company had no news today.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 21 are set to close higher today and 9 are poised to close lower.

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