Dow stocks hitting 52 week highs include IBM (IBM). There are no Dow stock 52 week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open up +157 points.

Wednesday the Dow was down -152.68 (-0.44%) at 34,447.14.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +12.55%.

There were 7 Dow stocks up Wednesday.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by Merck (MRK) 74.04 (+2.27%), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 165.59 (+1.35%) and Amgen (AMGN) 239.52 (1.14%%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Caterpillar (CAT) 234.65 (-2.29%), Boeing (BA) 248.06 (-1.86%) and American Express (AXP) 164.09 (-1.45%).

Unemployment insurance weekly claims in the week ending June 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 376,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 385,000. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The 4-week moving average was 402,500, a decrease of 25,500 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 428,000. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent for the week ending May 29, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 29 was 3,499,000, a decrease of 258,000 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 14,000 from 3,771,000 to 3,757,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,651,250, a decrease of 35,250 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 1,250 from 3,687,750 to 3,686,500. The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending May 22 was 15,349,465, a decrease of 95,099 from the previous week. There were 30,020,457 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020. See complete report here.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.6 percent in May on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.8 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 5.0 percent before seasonal adjustment; this was the largest 12-month increase since a 5.4-percent increase for the period ending August 2008. See the complete report here.

The 10-year Treasury yield ticked higher Thursday, trading around 1.5%, after the government released its red-hot May consumer price index. Headline CPI rose a greater-than-expected 5% on a year-over-year basis, the highest rate since sky high energy prices spiked inflation readings in August 2008. The CPI’s core rate, which excludes the energy and food sectors, was slightly higher than expected, registering a year-over-year gain of 3.8%, the highest rate since June 1992. The Federal Reserve, which has said it believes hotter inflation will be transitory, meets next week. The government also reported a new pandemic-era low of 376,000 initial jobless claims for last week. The previous week was unrevised at 385,000.

President Biden, meeting with leaders of the wealthy G-7 democracies on his first overseas trip since taking office, is expected Thursday to unveil plans for the U.S. to donate 500 million vaccine doses around the globe over the next year. That’s on top of 80 million shots Biden has already pledged by the end of the month. U.S. officials said the president will also include a direct request to his fellow G-7 leaders to do the same. While Covid eases in the U.S., the pandemic has reached new levels of devastation in many countries. India reported on Thursday a daily record of more than 6,000 deaths from the disease.

US futures are mostly higher, European stocks are mostly higher and Asian markets ended mostly higher.

The national average price of gasoline is up six-tenths of a cent at $3.073 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

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

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Walgreens (WBA)

Walgreens (WBA) 53.43 (-1.06%) is up +33.98% in 2021.

Financial Calendar

8:30 AM ET CPI

8:30 AM ET Jobless Claims

10:00 AM ET Quarterly Services Survey

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 5-Yr TIPS Announcement

11:00 AM ET 20-Yr Bond Announcement

11:30 AM ET 4-Week Bill Auction

11:30 AM ET 8-Week Bill Auction

1:00 PM ET 30-Yr Bond Auction

2:00 PM ET Treasury Statement

4:30 PM ET Fed Balance Sheet