July 29, 2015: Markets opened higher on Wednesday and two of the three major indexes spend all day trading above the break-even line; only the Nasdaq Composite took a brief visit into the red this morning. Tech stocks did poorly today, with industrials, financials, and consumer products leading indexes higher. A relatively sharp drop in crude oil inventory sent prices up more than 2% to an intra-day high of around $49.50. Gold settled at $1,092.60, down 0.3% on the day, but got a little boost in electronic trading after the FOMC announcement at 2 p.m. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded up 0.71% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.76%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.52%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Wednesday was Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) which traded higher by 2.15%% at $46.31. The stock’s 52-week range is $40.12 to $50.05. Trading volume was slightly above the daily average of around 32 million. The company released Windows 10 into the wild today, and reviews have been mostly positive.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK ) traded up 1.89 at $58.61. The stock’s 52-week range is $52.49 to $63.62. About 10 million shares traded hands today, around 5% above the daily average of about 9.5million. The company had no specific news today, but reported solid earnings earlier this week.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) traded up 1.59% at $46.62. The stock’s 52-week range is $45.09 to $52.15. Trading volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 15 million. The company said yesterday that it will offer a version of HBO’s HBO Now streaming video service.

The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) traded up 1.81% at $144.38. The stock’s 52-week range is $116.32 to $158.83. Trading volume was was about 30% below the daily average of around 3.5 million. The company is competing for a large order from an Indian airline and has said it may move some work offshore if the U.S. Export-Import Bank reauthorization fails.

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

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