April 1, 2015: Markets opened lower on Wednesday on mixed economic news. The ADP employment report came in well short of expectations, the dollar weakened a bit, and crude oil rose sharply probably due to the (temporary) drawdown on gasoline stockpiles. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded down 0.52% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.49%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.57%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Tuesday was Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) which traded lower by 2.12% at $80.51. The stock’s 52-week range is $72.61 to $90.97. Trading volume was about 10% below the daily average of around 7.2 million shares. The company has been reported to be putting pressure on suppliers to cut prices, indicating that the world’s largest retailer is seeking some help with profits.
3M Company (NYSE: MMM) traded down 1.72% at $162.11. The stock’s 52-week range is $130.60 to $170.50. Trading volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 2.3 million shares. The company had no specific news today, but lower crude oil prices led to the stock returning all of yesterday’s gain.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) traded down 1.61% at $34.23. The stock’s 52-week range is $27.51 to $35.45. Trading volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 30.5 million shares. The company had no specific news today.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) traded down 1.63% at $30.76. The stock’s 52-week range is $25.64 to $37.90. Trading volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 33.4 million shares. The company had no specific news today, but memory-chip maker Micron reports earnings after the bell today and that could be weighing down Intel’s shares.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 22 are set to close lower today and 8 are on track to close higher.
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