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September 25, 2017: Markets opened slightly lower Monday following more threats from North Korea that could lead to military action with the United States. Tech stocks were down sharply and energy stocks rose nicely on hopes that OPEC would extend its production cuts beyond next March. WTI crude oil for November delivery settled at $52.22 a barrel, up 3.1% on the day. December gold added 1.1% to settle at $1,311.50. Equities were headed for a lower close shortly before the bell as the DJIA traded down 0.22% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.21%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.92%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Monday was Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) which traded down 2.43% at $103.00. The stock’s 52-week range is $75.17 to $200.76. Volume was about 40% below the daily average of around 2.6 million. The company had no specific news.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded down 1.83% at $73.04. The stock’s 52-week range is $56.32 to $75.97. Volume was about 25% below the daily average of around 21 million shares. Apple has switched several of its Siri voice-controlled search functions away from Microsoft to Google.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) traded down 1.64% at $156.31. The stock’s 52-week range is $110.33 to $161.72. Volume was about half the daily average of around 3.2 million shares. The company had no specific news.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) traded down 1.04% at $150.31. The stock’s 52-week range is $104.08 to $164.94. Volume was about 50% above the daily average of around 27.5 million shares. The company had no specific news, but investors are wary of new iPhone sales totals and Apple’s ability to deliver on the iPhone X as scheduled.

Of the Dow stocks, 16 are on track to close higher Monday and 14 are set to close lower.