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August 30, 2018: Markets opened lower Thursday following four straight days of overall gains. Even the monthly report on income and spending (both are still rising) couldn’t turn the tide. Still, it’s been a good month for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, u[p 3.8% and 6.4%, respectively. The Dow has posted a gain of 2.9% for the month to date, with tomorrow’s trading expected to be light ahead of the three-day Labor Day holiday weekend. Utilities was the only sector able to eke out a gain while industrials and materials were the big losers Thursday.

WTI crude oil for October delivery settled at $70.25 a barrel, up 1.1% on the day. December gold dropped 0.5% to settle at $1,205.00. Equities were heading for a lower about 10 minutes before the bell as the Dow traded down 0.53% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.45%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.28%.

Bitcoin futures (XBTU8) for September delivery traded at $6,790, down about 3.1% on the Cboe after opening at $7,065 this morning. The trading range today was $6,785 to $7,065.

The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) which traded down 2.07% at $138.92. The 52-range on the stock is $116.50 to $173.24. Volume was about 10% below the daily average of around 4.4 million.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) traded down 1.85% at $81.26. The stock’s 52-week range is $50.35 to $86.68. Volume was about 5% lower than the daily average of around 6.2 million.

DowDuPont Inc. (NYSE: DWDP) traded down 1.38% at $70.08 in a 52-week range of $61.27 to $77.08. Volume was about 15% below the daily average of around 7.5 million shares.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) traded down 1.21% at $67.83. The stock’s 52-week range is $59.07 to $83.89. Volume was about 45% below the daily average of around 7.6 million shares.

Of the Dow stocks, just 3 were set to close higher Thursday and 27 were on track to close lower.