Dow stocks hitting 52-week highs include Coca Cola (KO) 72.56 (-0.62%), Procter & Gamble (PG) 175.90 (+0.79%), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 167.36 (+0.12%) and UnitedHealth (UNH) 604.12 (+0.92%). There are no Dow stock 52-week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to be up +36 points.

Wednesday the Dow closed up +38.04 (+0.09%) at 40,974.97.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +8.72%.

Wednesday, (14) Dow stocks were up, none made 52-week lows, and (4) made 52-week highs.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by Verizon (VZ) 42.93 (+2.75%), Procter & Gamble (PG) 174.52 (+1.74%) and UnitedHealth (UNH) 598.68 (+1.44%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Intel (INTC) 20.10 (-8.80%), Boeing (BA) 161.02 (-7.32%) and Goldman Sachs (GS) 487.46 (-4.47%).

The VIX closed Wednesday at 21.32 (+2.90%) and the 10 YR at 3.759 (-0.11%). The VIX is currently at 20.75 (-2.67%). The 10YR is at 3.719 (-1.17%).

Companies hired just 99,000 workers last month, less than the downwardly revised 111,000 in July and below the consensus forecast for 140,000, according to payrolls processing firm ADP. The report corroborates multiple data points recently that show hiring has slowed considerably from its blistering pace following the Covid outbreak in early 2020. The ADP data showed that while hiring has slowed considerably, only a few sectors reported actual job losses.

Verizon (VZ) announced it will purchase Frontier Communications in an all-cash deal valued at $20 billion, confirming earlier reports of the transaction. Frontier shares tumbled 9.7%, while Verizon’s stock advanced 1.2%.

Initial filings for unemployment benefits edged lower last week, easing some fears about the potential for an uptick in layoffs, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Jobless claims totaled 227,000 for the week ending Aug. 31, a drop of 5,000 from the upwardly revised previous period and slightly below the consensus forecast for 229,000. Continuing claims also fell, off 22,000 to 1.838 million and below the consensus call for 1.868 million.

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

The national average price of gasoline is down nine-tenths of a cent at $3.308 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

Nike (NKE) reports earnings on 9/26/24 after the market close.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Walmart (WMT)

Walmart (WMT) 77.24 (+0.09%) is up +46.98% in 2024.

Financial Calendar

07:30 AM ET Challenger Job Cuts (YoY), 9.2%
07:30 AM ET Challenger Job Cuts (Aug), 25.885K
08:15 AM ET ADP Nonfarm Employment Change (Aug), 143K, 122K
08:30 AM ET Continuing Jobless Claims, 1,870K, 1,868K
08:30 AM ET Initial Jobless Claims, 231K, 231K
08:30 AM ET Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg., 229.00K, 231.50K
08:30 AM ET Nonfarm Productivity (QoQ) (Q2), 2.3%, 0.2%
08:30 AM ET Unit Labor Costs (QoQ) (Q2), 0.9%, 4.0%
09:45 AM ET S&P Global Composite PMI (Aug), 54.1, 54.3
09:45 AM ET S&P Global Services PMI (Aug), 55.2, 55.0
10:00 AM ET ISM Non-Manufacturing Business Activity (Aug), 54.5
10:00 AM ET ISM Non-Manufacturing Employment (Aug), 51.1
10:00 AM ET ISM Non-Manufacturing New Orders (Aug), 52.4
10:00 AM ET ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI (Aug), 51.2, 51.4
10:00 AM ET ISM Non-Manufacturing Prices (Aug), 57.0
10:00 AM ET Redbook (YoY), 5.0%
10:00 AM ET Total Vehicle Sales (Aug), 15.40M, 15.80M
10:30 AM ET Natural Gas Storage, 35B
11:00 AM ET Crude Oil Inventories, -0.846M
11:00 AM ET EIA Refinery Crude Runs (WoW), 0.175M
11:00 AM ET Crude Oil Imports, 0.282M
11:00 AM ET Cushing Crude Oil Inventories, -0.668M
11:00 AM ET Distillate Fuel Production, 0.110M
11:00 AM ET EIA Weekly Distillates Stocks, 0.275M
11:00 AM ET Gasoline Production, -0.156M
11:00 AM ET Heating Oil Stockpiles, -1.189M
11:00 AM ET EIA Weekly Refinery Utilization Rates (WoW), 1.0%
11:00 AM ET Gasoline Inventories, -2.203M
11:25 AM ET 8-Week Bill Auction, 5.100%
11:30 AM ET 4-Week Bill Auction, 5.170%
16:30 PM ET Fed’s Balance Sheet, 7,123B
16:30 PM ET Reserve Balances with Federal Reserve Banks, 3.245T