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February 2, 2015: Markets opened higher on Monday following a report that personal income rose in December. The other side of the coin was that personal spending fell. Crude oil prices rose more than 2% following an 8% gain on Friday. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded up 1.08% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 1.22%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.83%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Monday was Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) which traded up 2.97% at $105.57. The stock’s 52-week range is $98.88 to $135.10. Trading volume was about equal to the daily average of around 9.2 million shares. The stock’s showing today was probably due to the earnings report from peer Exxon Mobil which, while not great, was acceptable to investors.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) traded up 2.87% at $47.02. The stock’s 52-week range is $45.09 to $53.66. Trading volume was about 10% below the daily average of around 17 million shares. The company is reported to be near a deal to sell some $10 billion in assets including cell towers and some of its landline phone business. No buyers were named.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded up 2.18% at $41.28. The stock’s 52-week range is $35.69 to $50.05. Trading volume was about 30% above the daily average of around 34 million shares. The company has dropped the price of its Surface Pro 3 2-in-2 device by $100 until April 5th.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) traded higher by 1.97% at $55.45. The stock’s 52-week range is $52.97 to $63.49. Trading volume was about 10% below the daily average of around 17 million shares. The bank agreed late Friday to pay $99.5 million to settle price-rigging claims in the foreign exchange market.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 26 are set to close higher today and just 4 are on track to close lower.

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