July 10, 2018: Markets opened opened higher again Tuesday although gains are muted compared to both Friday and Monday. Second-quarter earnings begin in earnest Friday with several big financials posting results and investors appear to be positioning themselves for the expected good news. Defensive sectors carried the day with consumer staples and utilities posting decent gains.

WTI crude oil for August delivery settled at $74.11 a barrel, up about 0.4% on the day. August gold settled up 0.3% at $1,259.60. Equities were heading for a higher close about 10 minutes before the bell as the Dow traded up 0.52% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.32%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.02%.

Bitcoin futures (XBTN8) for July delivery traded at $6,355, down 5% on the CBOE after opening at $6,705 this morning. The trading range today was $6,295 to $6,795.

The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage gain ahead of the close Tuesday was The Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) which traded up 2.39% at $79.72. The 52-range on the stock is $70.73 to $94.67. Volume of around 9 million was about 5% below the daily average.

The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) traded up 1.56% at $347.27 in a 52-week range of $204.00 to $374.48. Volume was about 40% higher than the daily average of around 2.7 million shares. Boeing reported second-quarter deliveries of 194 commercial jets this afternoon.

DowDuPont Inc. (NYSE: DWDP) traded up 1.54% at $67.78. The stock’s 52-week range is $61.27 to $77.08. Volume was about 25% above the daily average of around 6 million.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) traded up 1.48% at $87.20. The stock’s 52-week range is $73.33 to $109.98. Volume was about 90% above the daily average of around 4.8 million shares.

Of the Dow stocks, 26 were set to close higher Tuesday and 4 were on track to close lower.

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