April 29, 2015: Markets opened lower on Wednesday and were never quite able to overcome the morning’s low GDP print. Crude oil prices rose sharply following the report on inventories, but pulled back a bit on news that stockpiles were lower at the Cushing, Oklahoma, pricing hub. The Fed announcement that interest rates would remain unchanged was no surprise and had little impact on equity prices. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded down 0.44% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.40%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.61%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Tuesday was UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) traded lower by 3.46% at $113.53. The stock’s 52-week range is $74.26 to $123.76. Trading volume was about 50% above the daily average of around 4 million shares. The company had no specific news today but is probably following the dip caused by Humana’s warning this morning that hospital admissions are up more than expected..
The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) traded down 1.83% at $108.56. The stock’s 52-week range is $75.32 to $117.99. Trading volume is about 15% above the daily average of around 5 million shares. The company had no specific news today.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT traded down 1.49% at $77.92. The stock’s 52-week range is $72.61 to $90.97. Trading volume is about 35% below the daily average of around 6.9 million shares. The company said this morning that it plans to open just 115 new stores in China by 2017.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) traded down 1.34% at $128.84. The stock’s 52-week range is $82.90 to $134.54. Trading volume was about equal to the daily average of around 53 million shares. The company said that a European Commission investigation may result in the company having to pay a “material” amount in back taxes.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 17 are set to close higher today and 13 are on track to close lower.
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