Dow stocks hitting 52 week highs include American Express (AXP), Microsoft (MSFT), Nike (NKE) and Visa (V). There are no Dow stock 52 week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open down -501 points.

Wednesday the Dow was up +104.42 (+0.30%) at 34,681.79.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +13.32%.

There were 21 Dow stocks up Wednesday.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by Apple (AAPL) 144.57 (+1.80%), 3M (MMM) 199.86 and Home Depot (HD) 323.48 (+1.32%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Boeing (BA) 231.78 (-1.85%), Chevron (CVX) 102.93 (-1.02%) and Salesforce (CRM) 248.44 (-0.72%).

Initial filings for unemployment insurance unexpectedly rose last week, a possible hint that the rapid job growth seen the first half of 2021 could face hurdles. First-time jobless claims totaled 373,000 for the week ended July 3, compared with the 350,000 Dow Jones estimate. The level of continuing claims, the measure of ongoing benefits, decreased to 3.34 million, down 145,000 from the previous week’s revised level.

Investors rotated into the perceived safety of bonds Thursday, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield below 1.26% to the lowest since late February. Bond yields move inversely to prices. Despite the strengthening economy and hotter inflation, the 10-year yield continues to decline. It began July around 1.58%. It hit a then-14-month high of 1.78% in March. It began 2021 at less than 1%.

The global death toll from Covid exceeded 4 million late Wednesday as infections worldwide crossed 185 million.

Unemployment insurance weekly claims in the week ending June 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 364,000, a decrease of 51,000 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 4,000 from 411,000 to 415,000. The 4-week moving average was 392,750, a decrease of 6,000 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 up by 1,000 from 397,750 to 398,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent for the week ending June 19, unchanged from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised up by 0.1 from 2.4 to 2.5 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 19 was 3,469,000, an increase of 56,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 23,000 from 3,390,000 to 3,413,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,481,750, a decrease of 75,000 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 21, 2020 when it was 2,071,750. The previous week’s average was revised up by 4,250 from 3,552,500 to 3,556,750. The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending June 12 was 14,659,791, a decrease of 180,890 from the previous week. There were 32,118,436 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

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

The national average price of gasoline is up four-tenths of a cent at $3.141 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

Nike (NKE) reported earnings on 6/24/2021 after the market close of $0.93, beating estimates of $0.51 per share.

Walgreens (WBA) reported earnings on 7/1/2021 before the market open of $1.51, beating estimates of $1.114 per share.

Goldman Sachs (GS) reports earnings on 7/13/2021 before the market open.

JPMorgan (JPM) reports earnings on 7/13/2021 before the market open.

UnitedHealth (UNH) reports earnings on 7/15/2021 before the market open.

IBM (IBM) reports earnings on 7/19/2021 after the market close.

Travelers (TRV) reports earnings on 7/20/2021 before the market open.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Intel (INTC)

Intel (INTC) 55.96 (-0.23%) is up +12.32% in 2021.

Financial Calendar

8:30 AM ET Jobless Claims

10:30 AM ET EIA Natural Gas Report

11:00 AM ET EIA Petroleum Status 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 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

3:00 PM ET Consumer Credit

4:30 PM ET Fed Balance Sheet