Dow stocks hitting 52-week highs include UnitedHealth (UNH) 510.73. There are no Dow stock 52-week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open down -126 points.

Tuesday the Dow closed up +338.30 (+0.97%) at 35,294.19.

Year-to-date the Dow is down -2.87%.

There were 25 Dow stocks up Tuesday.

The Dow stock winners Tuesday were Visa (V) 228.12 (+3.33%), Nike (NKE) 139.14 (+3.21%) and Boeing (BA) 193.80 (+3.00%).

The Dow stock losers Tuesday were led by Travelers (TRV) 183.81 (-1.81%), Chevron (CVX) 164.32 (-1.22%) and UnitedHealth (UNH) 510.73 (-0.48%).

The 10 YR yield is currently at 2.425%.

Wall Street shakes off a recession signal of inverted yields in the bond market as Russia-Ukraine cease-fire talks raised hopes for diplomatic progress. The yield spread between the 5-year and the 30-year Treasurys was no longer inverted early Wednesday. The 5-year yield flipped above the 30-year on Monday for the first time since 2006 and stayed that way Tuesday. The 2-year Treasury yield and the benchmark 10-year yield went virtually flat Tuesday and remained close early Wednesday.

U.S. oil prices rose 2% early Wednesday after a two-day losing streak. West Texas Intermediate crude was tracking for a fourth straight monthly gain.

Mortgage rates surged last week, driving total home loan volume down 6.8%. The Mortgage Bankers Association said the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage shot up 0.3 percentage point to 4.8% in the week ended March 25, the largest one-week increase since February 2011. That sent refinance applications down 15% week over week and down a whopping 60% from a year ago. Home loan purchase demand increased 1% for the week but was 10% lower than the same week one year ago.

With two days before the government’s March employment report, the last one before the Federal Reserve’s early May meeting, ADP said Wednesday morning that U.S. companies added 455,000 jobs in March, basically matching estimates. The total was below the upwardly revised 486,000 in February and brought ADP’s first-quarter private payrolls count to 1.45 million.

Russian attacks on Ukraine continued Wednesday, one day after Moscow promised to reduce its military activity near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv. Russia’s pledge to scale back its aggression was met with skepticism from Ukraine, the United States and Britain. Russian and Ukrainian delegates met in Istanbul on Tuesday. Ukraine’s delegation laid out a framework under which the country would declare itself neutral and its security would be guaranteed by an array of other nations.

The Food and Drug Administration cleared fourth Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccine shots for everyone age 50 and older as top health officials declared the more contagious omicron subvariant, BA.2, the dominant version of Covid-19 in the U.S. The FDA also authorized a fifth dose for certain younger people with compromised immune systems. People aged 12 and older with weakened immune systems are eligible for a Pfizer fifth dose, and immunocompromised 18-year-olds and older are eligible for Moderna. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quickly signed off on the decision. The CDC also recommended all adults who received two doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine get third shots of Pfizer or Moderna. Adults who received the J&J vaccine and a second shot of Pfizer or Moderna are not yet eligible for a third dose, unless they are age 50 and older or have compromised immune systems. All of the new boosters are to be administered at least four months after the last shot.

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

The national average price of gasoline is down eight-tenths of a cent at $4.236 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

Nike (NKE) reported earnings on 3/21/2022 after the market close with $0.87, beating estimates of $0.732 per share.
Walgreens (WBA) reports earnings on 3/31/2022 before the market open.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Disney (DIS)

Disney (DIS) 142.38 (+2.64%) is down -8.08% in 2022.

Financial Calendar

07:00 AM ET MBA 30-Year Mortgage Rate
07:00 AM ET MBA Mortgage Applications (WoW)
07:00 AM ET MBA Purchase Index
07:00 AM ET Mortgage Market Index
07:00 AM ET Mortgage Refinance Index
08:15 AM ET ADP Nonfarm Employment Change (Mar)
08:30 AM ET Core PCE Prices (Q4)
08:30 AM ET Corporate Profits (QoQ) (Q4)
08:30 AM ET GDP (QoQ) (Q4)
08:30 AM ET GDP Price Index (QoQ) (Q4)
08:30 AM ET GDP Sales (Q4)
08:30 AM ET PCE Prices (Q4)
08:30 AM ET Real Consumer Spending (Q4)
10:30 AM ET Crude Oil Inventories
10:30 AM ET EIA Refinery Crude Runs (WoW)
10:30 AM ET Crude Oil Imports
10:30 AM ET Cushing Crude Oil Inventories
10:30 AM ET Distillate Fuel Production
10:30 AM ET EIA Weekly Distillates Stocks
10:30 AM ET Gasoline Production
10:30 AM ET Heating Oil Stockpiles
10:30 AM ET EIA Weekly Refinery Utilization Rates (WoW)
10:30 AM ET Gasoline Inventories
13:00 PM ET FOMC Member George Speaks