Dow stocks hitting 52 week highs include American Express (AXP), Chevron (CVX), Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan (JPM). There are no Dow stock 52 week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open up +17 points.

Wednesday the Dow was down -121.43 (-0.39%) at 31,270.09.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +2.17%.

There were 12 Dow stocks up Wednesday.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by Boeing (BA) 228.56 (+2.43%), American Express (AXP) 142.59 (+2.40%) and JPMorgan (JPM) 152.91 (+1.93%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were Salesforce (CRM) 206.00 (-3.50%), Microsoft (MSFT) 227.56 (-2.70%) and Apple (AAPL) 122.06 (-2.45%).

Stocks posted heavy losses during Wednesday’s regular trading as rising bond yields spooked investors.

Unemployment insurance weekly claims in the week ending February 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 745,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 6,000 from 730,000 to 736,000. The 4-week moving average was 790,750, a decrease of 16,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 250 from 807,750 to 807,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.0 percent for the week ending February 20, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 20 was 4,295,000, a decrease of 124,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 4,419,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,448,000, a decrease of 99,000 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 4,547,000. The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending February 13 was 18,026,537, a decrease of 1,018,763 from the previous week. There were 2,092,483 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

President Joe Biden has backed a plan to cut the income caps for Americans to receive stimulus checks as part of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package set to pass in the coming days. The structure would slash the direct payment income caps approved by the House. Under the lower chamber’s bill, individuals making up to $100,000 (and joint filers earning up to $200,000) would have received some amount. Under the new plan, the phase-out levels for the $1,400 stimulus checks would be $75,000 in income for single filers, $112,500 for heads of households and $150,000 for joint filers. The House is expected to approve the Senate’s version of the bill next week.

European stocks are mostly lower and Asian markets ended lower.

The national average price of gasoline is up eight-tenths of a cent at $2.745 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

Pfizer (PFE) reported earnings on 2/2/2021 before the market open of $0.42, missing estimates of $0.455 per share.

Amgen (AMGN) reported earnings on 2/2/2021 after the market close of $3.81, beating estimates of $3.359 per share.

Merck (MRK) reported earnings on 2/4/2021 before the market open of $1.32, missing estimates of $1.364 per share.

Cisco (CSCO) reported earnings on 2/9/2021 after the market close of $0.79, beating estimates of $0.68 per share.

Coca Cola (KO) reported earnings on 2/10/2021 before the market open of $0.47, beating estimates of $0.414 per share.

Disney (DIS) reported earnings on 2/11/2021 after the market close of $0.32, beating estimates of -$0.448 per share.

Walmart (WMT) reported earnings on 2/18/2021 before the market open of $1.39, missing estimates calling for $1.505 per share.

Home Depot (HD) reported earnings on 2/23/2021 before the market open of $2.64, beating estimates of $2.629 per share.

Salesforce (CRM) reported earnings on 2/25/2021 after the market close of $1.04, beating estimates of $0.302 per share.

Nike (NKE) reports earnings on 3/18/2021 after the market close.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Merck (MRK)

Merck (MRK) 73.30 (+0.62%) is down -10.39% in 2021.

Financial Calendar

7:30 AM ET Challenger Job-Cut Report

8:30 AM ET Jobless Claims

8:30 AM ET Productivity and Costs

10:00 AM ET Factory Orders

10:30 AM ET EIA Natural Gas Report

11:00 AM ET 3-Month Bill Announcement

11:00 AM ET 6-Month Bill Announcement

11:00 AM ET 3-Yr Note Announcement

11:00 AM ET 10-Yr Note Announcement

11:00 AM ET 30-Yr Bond Announcement

11:30 AM ET 4-Week Bill Auction

11:30 AM ET 8-Week Bill Auction

4:30 PM ET Fed Balance Sheet