Dow stocks hitting 52 week highs include Caterpillar (CAT), Dow (DOW), Intel (INTC) and 3M (MMM). There are no Dow stock 52 week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open down -47 points.

Wednesday the Dow was up +189.42 (+0.58%) at 33,015.37.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +7.87%.

There were 19 Dow stocks up Wednesday.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by Dow (DOW) 66.01 (+4.48%), Boeing (BA) 263.59 (+3.28%) and Caterpillar (CAT) 233.63 (+3.17%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Walgreens (WBA) 54.10 (-1.11%), Walmart (WMT) 132.28 (-0.83%) and Visa (V) 223.02 (-0.75%).

Unemployment insurance weekly claims in the week ending March 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 770,000, an increase of 45,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 13,000 from 712,000 to 725,000. The 4-week moving average was 746,250, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 3,250 from 759,000 to 762,250. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.0 percent for the week ending March 6, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 6 was 4,124,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week’s revised
level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 2,000 from 4,144,000 to 4,142,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,255,500, a decrease of 99,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 500 from 4,355,000 to 4,354,500. The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending February 27 was 18,216,463, a decrease of 1,902,005 from the previous week. There were 2,087,219 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 33,000 level for the first time ever Wednesday.

The 10-year Treasury yield Thursday touched 1.74%, a high back to January 2020.

The federal April 15 tax filing day has been postponed about a month. Taxpayers can also delay payment of any money owed the IRS until May 17. However, the extended deadline applies only to federal income returns and taxes, meaning that taxpayers will need to check to see if due dates for state taxes have been changed. Not all states follow the same filing schedule as the federal government. Calls to delay Tax Day intensified after passage of the latest Covid relief plan, which tasks the IRS with sending another round of direct payments at the same time it usually processes tax returns and refunds.

European stocks are mostly lower and Asian markets higher.

The national average price of gasoline is up five-tenths of a cent at $2.884 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

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

Walgreens (WBA) reports earnings on 3/31/2021 before the market open.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Apple (AAPL)

Apple (AAPL) 124.76 (-0.65%) is down -5.98% in 2021.

Financial Calendar

8:30 AM ET Jobless Claims

8:30 AM ET Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index

10:00 AM ET Leading Indicators

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 52-Week Bill Announcement

11:00 AM ET 2-Yr FRN Note Announcement

11:00 AM ET 2-Yr Note Announcement

11:00 AM ET 5-Yr Note Announcement

11:00 AM ET 7-Yr Note Announcement

11:30 AM ET 4-Week Bill Auction

11:30 AM ET 8-Week Bill Auction

1:00 PM ET 10-Yr TIPS Auction

4:30 PM ET Fed Balance Sheet