Dow stocks hitting 52-week highs include UnitedHealth (UNH) 520.82. There are no Dow stock 52-week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open down -45 points.

Wednesday the Dow closed down -65.38 (-0.19%) at 35,228.81.

Year-to-date the Dow is down -3.05%.

There were 15 Dow stocks up Wednesday.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were UnitedHealth (UNH) 520.82 (+1.98%), Walmart (WMT) 149.87 (+1.79%) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 179.59 (+1.04%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Home Depot (HD) 308.46 (-2.91%), Salesforce (CRM) 214.94 (-2.87%) and Visa (V) 223.95 (-1.83%).

The 10 YR yield is currently at 2.355%.

Major international oil producers in OPEC+ stuck to a modest crude oil output hike after their meeting amid reports the U.S. was considering releasing supply from its strategic oil reserves. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. oil benchmark, fell 6% to around $101 per barrel Thursday.

Walgreens (WBA) fell 1% in Thursday’s premarket, shortly after reporting better-than expected earnings and revenue. Results were helped by increased demand for Covid booster shots and tests due to the spread of the omicron variant during the winter months.

Treasury yields fell Thursday, but key spreads, the 5-year and 30-year as well as the 2-year and 10-year, remained tight. The 5-year Treasury yield inverted earlier this week and went above the 30-year yield, a market distortion that’s often happened before economic recessions. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield dropped to 2.3%, backing away from near three-year highs.

The Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation gauge, the core personal consumption expenditures price index, advanced 5.4% on a year-over-year basis in February, a bit lower than estimates but up from the prior month’s biggest increase since spring of 1983.

One day before the March employment report, the government said Thursday morning that initial jobless claims for the week ended March 26 rose to 202,000. The prior week’s reading was revised slightly higher to 188,000, still around a 52-year low.

Biden warned the U.S. will not have enough Covid vaccine doses this fall to ensure free and easy access for all Americans if Congress fails to pass the $22.5 billion in additional funding the administration has requested. Biden also said Wednesday the U.S. has enough supply to ensure people eligible for fourth shots have access to them after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week recommended another round of boosters.

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

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) reported earnings on 3/31/2022 before the market open with $1.59, beating estimates of $1.389 per share.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Dow (DOW)

Dow (DOW) 64.26 (+0.11%) is up +13.29% in 2022.

Financial Calendar

08:30 AM ET Continuing Jobless Claims
08:30 AM ET Core PCE Price Index (YoY) (Feb)
08:30 AM ET Core PCE Price Index (MoM) (Feb)
08:30 AM ET Initial Jobless Claims
08:30 AM ET Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg
08:30 AM ET PCE Price index (YoY) (Feb)
08:30 AM ET PCE price index (MoM) (Feb)
08:30 AM ET Personal Income (MoM) (Feb)
08:30 AM ET Personal Spending (MoM) (Feb)
08:30 AM ET Real Personal Consumption (MoM) (Feb)
09:00 AM ET FOMC Member Williams Speaks
09:45 AM ET Chicago PMI (Mar)
10:30 AM ET Natural Gas Storage
11:30 AM ET 4-Week Bill Auction
11:30 AM ET 8-Week Bill Auction
18:00 AM PT Dallas Fed PCE (Feb)