Dow stocks hitting 52 week highs include IBM (IBM), 3M (MMM) and UnitedHealth (UNH). There are no Dow stock 52 week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open down -4 points.

Wednesday the Dow was up +316.01 (+0.93) at 34,137.31.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +11.54%.

There were 26 Dow stocks up Wednesday.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by IBM (IBM) 143.55 (+3.90%), Dow (DOW) 64.82 (+3.75%) and Nike (NKE) 129.90 (+2.19%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Procter & Gamble (PG) 136.85 (-0.65%), Verizon (VZ) 58.14 (-0.43%) and McDonald’s (MCD) 232.26 (-0.32%).

Unemployment insurance weekly claims in the week ending April 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 547,000, a decrease of 39,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 10,000 from 576,000 to 586,000. The 4-week moving average was 651,000, a decrease of 27,750 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500. The previous week’s average was revised down by 4,250 from 683,000 to 678,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending April 10, 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 April 10 was 3,674,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 21, 2020 when it was 3,094,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 23,000 from 3,731,000 to 3,708,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,713,000, a decrease of 41,750 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 28, 2020 when it was 3,611,750. The previous week’s average was revised down by 8,250 from 3,763,000 to 3,754,750. The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending April 3 was 17,405,094, an increase of 491,674 from the previous week. There were 12,492,421 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

The 10-year Treasury yield, which spiked to 14-month highs in March, ticked higher early Thursday but remained under 1.6%.

President Biden is pledging to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, the White House announced ahead of hosting a global climate summit Thursday and Friday. That target roughly doubles America’s prior commitment under the 2015 Paris climate agreement. All 40 world leaders Biden invited to the virtual gathering will be attending, including those from China and India. The summit is a chance for the U.S. to rejoin global efforts on climate after the Trump administration exited the Paris accord.

European stocks are higher and Asian markets ended mostly higher.

The national average price of gasoline is up seven-tenths of a cent at $2.885 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

Goldman Sachs (GS) reported earnings on 4/14/2021 before the market open of $18.60, beating estimates of $9.79 per share.

JPMorgan (JPM) reported earnings on 4/14/2021 before the market open of $4.50, beating estimates of $3.046 per share.

UnitedHealth (UNH) reported earnings on 4/15/2021 before the market open of $5.31, beating estimates of $4.423 per share.

Coca Cola (KO) reported earnings on 4/19/2021 before the market open of $0.55, beating estimates of $0.497 per share.

IBM (IBM) reported earnings on 4/19/2021 after the market close of $1.77, beating estimates of $1.668 per share.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported earnings on 4/20/2021 before the market open of $2.69, beating estimates of $2.31 per share.

Procter & Gamble (PG) reported earnings on 4/20/2021 before the market open of $1.26, beating estimates of $1.184 per share.

Travelers (TRV) reported earnings on 4/20/2021 before the market open of $2.73, beating estimates of $2.443 per share.

Verizon (VZ) reported earnings on 4/21/2021 before the market open of $1.31, beating estimates of $1.287 per share.

Intel (INTC) reports earnings on 4/22/2021 after the market close.

Dow (DOW) reports earnings on 4/22/2021 before the market open.

American Express (AXP) reports earnings on 4/23/2021 before the market open.

Honeywell (HON) reports earnings on 4/23/2021 before the market open.

3M (MMM) reports earnings on 4/27/2021 before the market open.

Amgen (AMGN) reports earnings on 4/27/2021 after the market close.

Microsoft (MSFT) reports earnings on 4/27/2021 after the market close.

Visa (V) reports earnings on 4/27/2021 after the market close.

Boeing (BA) reports earnings on 4/28/2021 before the market open.

Apple (AAPL) reports earnings on 4/28/2021 after the market close.

Caterpillar (CAT) reports earnings on 4/29/2021 before the market open.

McDonald’s (MCD) reports earnings on 4/29/2021 before the market open.

Merck (MRK) reports earnings on 4/29/2021 before the market open.

Chevron (CVX) reports earnings on 4/30/2021 before the market open.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Travelers (TRV)

Travelers (TRV) 157.38 (+1.06%) is up 12.12% in 2021.

Financial Calendar

8:30 AM ET Jobless Claims

8:30 AM ET Chicago Fed National Activity Index

10:00 AM ET Existing Home Sales

10:00 AM ET Leading Indicators

10:30 AM ET EIA Natural Gas Report

11:00 AM ET Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index

11:00 AM ET 3-Month Bill Announcement

11:00 AM ET 6-Month 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 5-Yr TIPS Auction

4:30 PM ET Fed Balance Sheet