Dow stocks hitting 52-week highs include Apple (AAPL) 177.25 (-0.03%), Salesforce (CRM) 223.38 (+2.06%) and Microsoft (MSFT) 328.39 (-0.85%). Dow stock 52-week lows include 3M (MMM) 93.31 (-2.86%).

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open down -93 points.

Wednesday the Dow closed down -134.51 (-0.41%) at 32,908.27.

Year-to-date the Dow is down -0.72%.

Wednesday, (13) Dow stocks were up, (1) was at 52-week lows and (3) were at 52-week highs.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by Intel (INTC) 31.44 (+4.83%), Verizon (VZ) 35.63 (+2.09%) and Salesforce (CRM) 223.38 (+2.06%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by 3M (MMM) 93.31 (-2.86%), Home Depot (HD) 283.45 (-2.36%) and Travelers (TRV) 169.24 (-2.34%).

The VIX closed Wednesday at 17.94 (+2.75%) and the 10 YR at 3.652 (+0.80%). The VIX is currently at 18.03 (+3.26%). The 10YR is at 3.660 (-0.81%).

It took a late-night vote and arm twisting, but a bill to raise the U.S. debt ceiling passed the House on Wednesday, mere days before the country risks its first-ever default on June 5. The chamber approved the measure in a 314-117 vote, a more overwhelming result than expected for a plan that included spending provisions that many Democrats and Republicans opposed. The Senate will forge ahead with the bill Thursday morning and aims to send it to President Joe Biden’s desk as soon as Friday.

Private payrolls rose by 278,000 in May, ahead of the 180,000 estimate and down just slightly from the previous month, ADP reported Thursday. The payrolls processing firm added that job growth was “fragmented” as it was concentrated in just a few industries such as leisure and hospitality and natural resources/mining. ADP also noted that the pace of pay increases has been declining. The report comes a day ahead of the Labor Department’s nonfarm payrolls count, which is expected to show an increase of 190,000.

Salesforce (CRM) shares fell 6% after the company reported higher-than-expected capital costs and lower demand for consulting deals in its fiscal first quarter.

Jobless claims edged higher last week to 232,000 but were slightly below the 235,000 Dow Jones estimate, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Continuing claims nudged up as well, rising to 1.795 million, below the 1.81 million FactSet estimate. A separate report showed that unit labor costs increased 4.2% in the first quarter, well below the 6% estimate. Productivity fell 2.1%, better than the 2.5% expected decline.

U.S. futures are mostly 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 $3.574 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

Salesforce (CRM) reported earnings on 5/31/23 after the market close with $1.69, beating estimates of $1.061 per share.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Home Depot (HD)

Home Depot (HD) 283.45 (-2.36%) is down -10.26% in 2023.

Financial Calendar

08:15 AM ET ADP Nonfarm Employment Change (May), 170K, 296K
08:30 AM ET Continuing Jobless Claims, 1,800K, 1,794K
08:30 AM ET Initial Jobless Claims, 235K, 229K
08:30 AM ET Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg., 231.75K
08:30 AM ET Nonfarm Productivity (QoQ) (Q1), -2.7%, 1.7%
08:30 AM ET Unit Labor Costs (QoQ) (Q1), 6.3%, 3.2%
09:45 AM ET Manufacturing PMI (May), 48.5, 50.2
10:00 AM ET Construction Spending (MoM) (Apr), 0.1%, 0.3%
10:00 AM ET ISM Manufacturing Employment (May), 48.5, 50.2
10:00 AM ET ISM Manufacturing New Orders Index (May), 44.9, 45.7
10:00 AM ET ISM Manufacturing PMI (May), 47.0, 47.1
10:00 AM ET ISM Manufacturing Prices (May), 52.0, 53.2
10:30 AM ET Natural Gas Storage, 113B, 96B
11:00 AM ET Crude Oil Inventories, -1.101M, -12.456M
11:00 AM ET EIA Refinery Crude Runs (WoW), 0.079M
11:00 AM ET Crude Oil Imports, 0.432M, -1.249M
11:00 AM ET Cushing Crude Oil Inventories, 0.772M, 1.762M
11:00 AM ET Distillate Fuel Production, -0.026M, 0.019M
11:00 AM ET EIA Weekly Distillates Stocks, -0.118M, -0.562M
11:00 AM ET Gasoline Production, -0.060M, 0.833M
11:00 AM ET Heating Oil Stockpiles, 0.009M, 0.481M
11:00 AM ET EIA Weekly Refinery Utilization Rates (WoW), -0.3%
11:00 AM ET Gasoline Inventories, -0.369M, -2.053M
11:30 AM ET 4-Week Bill Auction, 5.750%
11:30 AM ET 8-Week Bill Auction, 5.350%
13:00 PM ET FOMC Member Harker Speaks
16:30 PM ET Fed’s Balance Sheet, 8,436B
16:30 PM ET Reserve Balances with Federal Reserve Banks, 3.251T