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May 16, 2016: Markets opened higher Monday as they ignored weaker-than-expected economic data from China. The dollar strengthened early, especially against the yen, and an announcement from Goldman Sachs that the oil glut is over lifted crude prices. Basic materials and energy were Monday’s best performing sectors. WTI crude oil for June delivery settled at $47.72 a barrel, up about 3.3% for the day. June gold added 0.1% on the day to settle at $1,274.20. Equities were headed for a higher close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded up 1.08% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 1.02%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 1.33%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Monday was Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) which traded up 3.90% at $94.05. The stock’s 52-week range is $89.47 to $132.97. Volume was about 35% above the daily average of around 38 million shares. Warren Buffett announced this morning that he had added $1 billion in Apple stock to his portfolio last quarter.

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (NYSE: DD) traded up 2.27% at $64.34. The stock’s 52-week range is $47.11 to $75.72. Volume was 30% below the daily average of around 3.4 million shares. The industrial giant had no specific news Monday.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) traded up 1.92% at $30.49. The stock’s 52-week range is $24.87 to $35.59. Trading volume was more than 35% lower than the daily average of around 23 million. The chipmaker had no specific news Monday.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) traded up 1.83% at $66.13. The stock’s 52-week range is $56.30 to $79.94. Trading volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 8.9 million. The retailing giant is scheduled to report earnings later this week, and the weekend news that Amazon will be adding house labels to its offering did not seem to disturb investors..

Of the Dow 30 stocks 29 are set to close higher Monday and just 1 is on track to close higher.