For Dow stocks, BAC, UTX and VZ were at 52 week highs. There are no Dow stock 52 week lows.

The Market

The Dow looks to open up +22 this morning.

The U.S. Census Bureau said housing starts were up +0.8% in February, while building permits jumped +4.6%. Building permit data is considered a proxy of builder confidence.

Boeing (BA) shares are up premarket after announcing a new deal with Ryanair (RYAAY) worth over $15 billion.

Coca-Cola (KO) shares are down premarket as some of the company’s employees in China are being investigated for misuse of GPS devices.

European markets are mostly down and Asian markets ended mostly up.

The national average price of gasoline is down one-tenths of a cent to $3.685 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

There are no Dow stocks set to announce earnings in the near term.

Rockwell Collins (COL) is expected to report second quarter EPS of $1.18 vs. $1.09 a year ago.

DSW (DSW) is expected to report fourth quarter EPS of $0.72 vs. $0.51 a year ago.

FactSet Research Systems (FDS) is expected to report second quarter EPS of $1.11 vs. $1.02 a year ago.

Francesca’s Holdings (FRAN) is expected to report fourth quarter EPS of $0.30 vs. $0.20 a year ago.

Williams-Sonoma (WSM) is expected to report fourth quarter EPS of $1.29 vs. $1.17 a year ago.

Financial Calendar

0830 ET Feb housing starts expected +2.8% to 915,000, Jan -8.5% to 890,000. Feb building permits expected +2.1% to 923,000, Jan -0.6% to 904,000.

0900 ET FOMC begins 2-day policy meeting.

1630 ET API weekly U.S. oil statistics.

n/a U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew begins 2-day visit to China.