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October 4, 2018: Markets opened lower Thursday after Wednesday’s abrupt shift in bond sentiment. Yields jumped and investors ditched stocks to chase bonds. The 10-year note jumped to nearly 3.23% around noon today and has pulled back to around 3.195%. The 10-year closed at $3.187 on Wednesday. Tech stocks have taken the most punishment Thursday with consumer discretionary issues not far behind.

WTI crude oil for November delivery settled at $74.33 a barrel, down 2.7% for the day.  December gold dropped about 0.1% to settle at $1,201.60. Equities were heading for a lower close about 10 minutes before the bell as the Dow traded down 0.72% for the day, the S&P 500 traded down 0.81%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 1.80%.

Bitcoin futures (XBTV8) for October delivery traded at $6,565, up about 2.1% on the Cboe after opening at $6,420 this morning. The trading range today was $6,390 to $6,610.

The Dow stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) which traded down 2.96% at $80.06 in a 52-week range of $50.35 to $86.04. Volume was about 10% above the daily average of around 6.6 million shares. Soccer star Christiano Ronaldo, a Nike endorser, may be charged with rape.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded down 2.53% at $112.26. The stock’s 52-week range is $74.96 to $116.18. Volume was about 10% higher than the daily average of around 23.9 million.

The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) traded down 2.49% at $198.67. The 52-week range on the stock is $160.53 to $215.43. Volume was about 15% above the daily average of around 3.9 million.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) traded down 2.00% at $146.23. The stock’s 52-week range is $105.15 to $151.56. Volume was about 20% below the daily average of around 7.3 million shares.

Of the Dow stocks, 6 were set to close higher Thursday and 24 were on track to close lower.