February 26, 2016: Markets opened higher on Friday on rising oil prices in Asia and Europe which turned into lower prices as the trading day went along. Basic materials and financials were today’s best performers after the PCE inflation index rose more than expected leading investors to believe further interest rate hikes would be forthcoming from the Fed. WTI crude oil for April delivery settled at $32.78 a barrel, down about 0.9% on the day but up more than 3% for the week. April gold dropped 1.5% to settle at $1,222.40 for the day and a loss of about 0.8% for the week. Equities were headed for a mixed close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded down 0.23% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.07%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.25%.
The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Friday was The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) which traded down 2.36% at $43.12. The stock’s 52-week range is $24.87 to $35.59. Volume was less than 10% below the daily average of around 14.7 million shares traded. The company had no specific news today.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) traded down 2.16% at $66.57. The stock’s 52-week range is $56.30 to $84.16. Trading volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 12.3 million. The company had no specific news on Friday.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) traded down 1.70% at $132.21. The stock’s 52-week range is $116.90 to $176.30. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 5.4 million shares. The company also had no specific news today.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) traded down 1.41% at $30.16. The stock’s 52-week range is $28.25 to $36.46. Trading volume was less than 10% below the daily average of around 37 million. Merrill Lynch recently added the company to its US 1 Portfolio.
Of the Dow 30 stocks 20 are set to close lower today and 10 are on track to close higher.
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