September 3, 2015: Markets opened higher on Thursday after the European Central Bank president indicated that the ECB would continue quantitative easing program. Markets in China and Hong Kong were closed for a holiday. Following a wobbly start crude oil ended the day up more than 1% at $46.75, its fifth positive finish in the last six sessions. Indexes are trading so close to the break-even line that they could finish either higher or lower. We’ll look at the stocks holding the DJIA down. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded up 0.16% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.17%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.25%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) which traded lower by 2.35% at $74.32. The stock’s 52-week range is $70.23 to $109.66. Trading volume was about 30% higher than the daily average of around 5.9 million. The company had no news today, but a poor earnings report from Joy Global sent investors fleeing Cat stock today.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) traded down 1.68% at $110.45. The stock’s 52-week range is $92.00 to $134.54. About 47.5 million shares traded hands today, around 15% less than the daily average of about 55 million. The company had no specific news today.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) traded down 0.85% at $92.56. The stock’s 52-week range is $81.79 to $109.49. Trading volume was about 25% lower than the daily average of around 8 million. The company also had no specific news today.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) traded down 0.24% at $24.51. The stock’s 52-week range is $19.37 to $28.68. Trading volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 33 million. The company was on the receiving end of some negative sentiment from a Goldman Sachs analyst this morning who said negative news is “rampant” in the conglomerates.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 7 are set to close lower today and 23 are on track to close lower. Apple, Johnson & Johnson, and Caterpillar carry a lot of weight in the Dow index.

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