Dow stocks hitting 52-week highs include Coca Cola (KO), Procter & Gamble (PG) and UnitedHealth (UNH). There are no Dow stock 52-week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open up +161 points.

Wednesday the Dow closed up +383.25 (+1.08%) at 35,927.43.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +17.39%.

There were 23 Dow stocks up Wednesday.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by Cisco (CSCO) 59.93 (+3.74%), UnitedHealth (UNH) 494.38 (+3.11%) and Apple (AAPL) 179.30 (+2.85%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Nike (NKE) 163.90 (-0.91%), JPMorgan (JPM) 157.94 (-0.75%) and Chevron (CVX) 115.56 (-0.57%).

Following this week’s hot inflation figures and weaker retail sales growth, the government said Thursday that filings for initial jobless claims rose to a higher-than-expected 206,000 for the week ended Dec. 11. New claims for the prior week were revised slightly higher to 188,000, still the lowest tally in about five decades. Also Thursday morning, the government said November housing starts surged, while the Philadelphia Fed saw its December business conditions index plummet.

Yesterday the Fed provided multiple indications that its run of ultra-easy policy since the beginning of the Covid pandemic is coming to a close. Once the faster tapering ends in late winter or early spring, central bankers expect to start raising interest rates, which were held steady near zero at this week’s meeting. In addition to as many as three rate hikes next year, two more are seen in 2023 followed by two in 2024. For next year, the Fed increased its inflation outlook, reduced its economic growth forecast and called for an improved jobs market. The Fed’s policy again noted that developments with the Covid pandemic, particularly variants, pose risks to the outlook.

The Covid omicron variant spreading around the world may bring another wave of chaos to the U.S., threatening to further stretch hospital workers already struggling with a surge of delta cases, and upend holiday plans for the second year in a row. The White House on Wednesday insisted there was no need for a lockdown because vaccines are widely available and appear to offer protection against the worst consequences of the virus.

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

The national average price of gasoline is down two-tenths of a cent at $3.316 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

Nike (NKE) reports earnings on 12/20/2021 after the market close.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Verizon (VZ)

Verizon (VZ) 50.55 (-0.20%) is down -13.96% in 2021.

Financial Calendar

08:30 AM ET Building Permits (Nov)
08:30 AM ET Building Permits (MoM) (Nov)
08:30 AM ET Continuing Jobless Claims
08:30 AM ET Housing Starts (Nov)
08:30 AM ET Housing Starts (MoM) (Nov)
08:30 AM ET Initial Jobless Claims
08:30 AM ET Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg.
08:30 AM ET Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (Dec)
08:30 AM ET Philly Fed Business Conditions (Dec)
08:30 AM ET Philly Fed CAPEX Index (Dec)
08:30 AM ET Philly Fed Employment (Dec)
08:30 AM ET Philly Fed New Orders (Dec)
08:30 AM ET Philly Fed Prices Paid (Dec)
09:15 AM ET Capacity Utilization Rate (Nov)
09:15 AM ET Industrial Production (YoY) (Nov)
09:15 AM ET Industrial Production (MoM) (Nov)
09:15 AM ET Manufacturing Production (MoM) (Nov)
09:45 AM ET Manufacturing PMI (Dec)
09:45 AM ET Markit Composite PMI (Dec)
09:45 AM ET Services PMI (Dec)
10:30 AM ET Natural Gas Storage
11:00 AM ET KC Fed Composite Index (Dec)
11:00 AM ET KC Fed Manufacturing Index (Dec)
11:30 AM ET 4-Week Bill Auction
11:30 AM ET 8-Week Bill Auction