September 18, 2015: Markets opened lower on Friday as investors reacted to further uncertainty related to an interest rate hike. Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen left the door open to an increase later this year. Treasuries and gold both got a bounce, with gold up 1.9% and up 3.1% for the week. Crude oil dropped 4.7% and closed the week down just a nickel. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded down 1.96% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 4.43%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 1.48%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Friday was Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) which traded lower by 3.71% at $51.96. The stock’s 52-week range is $45.69 to $63.62. Trading volume was about 90% higher than the daily average of around 11 million. The company’s shares probably reacted negatively to the reported successful trial of a diabetes drug by competitor Lilly.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) traded down 3.23% at $71.67. The stock’s 52-week range is $70.23 to $107.12. Trading volume was about equal to the daily average of around 6.4 million. The company had no specific news today.
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded down 3.04% at $180.78 The stock’s 52-week range is $171.26 to $218.77. Trading volume was about 75% above the daily average of around 2.9 million. The company had no specific news today. Goldman is the most heavily weighted stock on the DJIA at nearly 7.5% of the total index of 30 stocks.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) traded down 2.86% at $72.33. The stock’s 52-week range is $66.55 to $97.56. Trading volume was about 15% above the daily average of around 14.8 million. The stock was battered on the sharp drop in crude oil prices.
All 30 Dow stocks are on track to close lower today.
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