General Electric, DowDuPont Lead the Dow Higher Wednesday
May 9, 2018 by Paul AusickMay 9, 2018: Markets opened higher Wednesday before dipping below the break-even line in the late morning and then taking off for a couple of hours in the afternoon to put equities on track for a decent daily gain. Energy stocks rose mostly steadily as the U.S. rejection of the Iran deal is widely believed to be quite bullish for oil prices and everything connected to black gold. Interestingly, both the dollar and 10-year Treasuries posted solid gains today as well.
WTI crude oil for June delivery settled at $71.14 a barrel, up 3% for the day after a bullish inventory report to go with the news about the Iran nuclear deal. June gold dipped less than 0.1% on the day to settle at $1,313.00. Equities were headed for a higher close about 10 minutes before the bell as the Dow traded up 0.61% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.86%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.91%.
Bitcoin futures (XBTK8) for May delivery traded at $9,270, up about 0.5% on the CBOE after opening at $9,235 this morning. The trading range today was $8,945 to $9,370.
The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Wednesday was DowDuPont Inc. (NYSE: DWDP) which traded up 2.83% at $66.05. The stock’s 52-week range is $59.29 to $77.08. Volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 9 million shares. The company had no specific news.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) traded up 2.56% at $14.64. The stock’s 52-week range is $12.73 to $29.47. Volume was about half the daily average of around 76.3 million. The company had no specific news.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) traded up 2.29% at $79.88 in a 52-week range of $72.16 to $89.30. Volume was about 15 below the daily average of 15.7 million. The company had no specific news, but oil prices shot up.
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) traded up 2.03% at $57.91. The stock’s 52-week range is $52.83 to $66.41. Volume was about half the daily average of around 12 million shares. The company had no specific news.
Of the Dow stocks, 22 are on track to close higher Wednesday and 8 are set to close lower.
Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With An Advisor Now (Sponsored)
Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.
Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.
Click here now to get started.