August 26, 2015: Markets opened higher again on Wednesday and climbed to intra-day highs with about 1 hour left in the day’s trading session. That’s when everything went sour on Tuesday. The crude oil inventory report showed a significant drop in crude stockpiles, but gasoline inventory continues to grow and another 250,000 barrels a day could come back now that BP has restarted its repaired unit in Whiting, Indiana. Gold settled down more than 1% and crude settled down 1.8%. Note that the Federal Reserve’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, kicks off tomorrow. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded up 3.64% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 3.61%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 3.91%.

The Dow is on track for the third-largest one-day point gain in its history.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Wednesday was Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) which traded up 6.05% at $54.26. The stock’s 52-week range is $45.69 to $63.62. About 17 million shares traded hands today, about 70% above the daily average of about 9.9 million. The company had no specific news today, but the bounce recovered all and more of Tuesday’s 4.65% loss.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) traded higher by 5.42%% at $72.43. The stock’s 52-week range is $66.55 to $99.96. Trading volume was about double the daily average of around 25 million. The company is defying the drop in the price of crude and the growth in gasoline inventories. Could it have something to do with that 4% dividend yield?

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) traded up 5.33% at $27.25. The stock’s 52-week range is $24.87 to $37.90. Trading volume was about 15% above the daily average of around 34 million. The company announced some small investments today and the chip industry as a whole got some kind words from Citi analyst Chris Danely.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) traded up 4.72% at $108.42. The stock’s 52-week range is $78.27 to $117.72. Trading volume was about double the daily average of around 3.2 million. The stock was upgraded from Neutral to Positive this morning at Susquehanna which also maintained its price target of $122 on the stock.The consensus target is $119.63..

All 30 Dow stocks are on track to close higher today.

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