24/7 Wall St.

April 12, 2017: Markets opened mixed again Wednesday and drifted lower for most of the day. Only counter-cyclicals like consumer staples, telecom, and utilities traded higher. Materials and industrials lagged most. WTI crude oil for May delivery settled at $53.11 a barrel, down 0.5% on the day. June gold added 0.3% on the day to settle at $1,278.10, another multi-month high. Equities were headed for a lower close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded down 0.37% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.46%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.57%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Wednesday was Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) which traded down 2.36% at $94.81. The stock’s 52-week range is $69.04 to $99.46. Volume was about 40% the daily average of around 5.38 million shares. The company had no specific news.

The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) traded down 1.38% at $76.11. The stock’s 52-week range is $122.35 to $185.71. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 3.4 million shares. The company had no specific news.

The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) traded down 1.08% at $146.60. The stock’s 52-week range is $119.20 to $150.15. Volume was about equal to the daily average of around 3.9 million shares. The drugmaker had no specific news.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded down 0.90% at $225.68. The stock’s 52-week range is $138.20 to $255.15. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 3.8 million. The investment bank had no specific news Wednesday.

Of the Dow stocks, 8 are on track to close higher Wednesday and 22 are set to close lower.