There were no Dow stocks hitting 52-week highs. There were no Dow stock 52-week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to be down -351 points.

Wednesday the Dow closed up +485.60 (+1.14%) at 43,006.59.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +1.09%.

Wednesday, (24) Dow stocks were up, none made 52-week lows, and none made 52-week highs.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by Caterpillar (CAT) 338.49 (+3.59%), Microsoft (MSFT) 401.02 (+3.19%) and Boeing (BA) 163.16 (+2.68%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Chevron (CVX) 150.81 (-0.78%), IBM (IBM) 251.35 (-0.73%) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 165.12 (-0.18%).

The VIX closed Wednesday at 21.93 (-6.72%) and the 10 YR at 4.322 (+1.36%). The VIX is currently at 23.73 (+8.21%). The 10YR is at 4.291 (+0.63%).

The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book and the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing reading both indicated fear of rising input costs because of the tariffs. Data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas released Thursday showed layoff announcements soared to 2020 highs, which the outplacement firm found was driven by Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to shrink the federal government’s workforce.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits dipped last week despite the Trump administration’s moves to shrink the government work force, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Claims totaled a seasonally adjusted 221,000 for the week ending March 1, down 21,000 from the prior period and below the Dow Jones estimate for 235,000. The total was about in line with the four-week average of 224,250. Continuing claims, which run a week behind, rose to just shy of 1.9 million, an increase of 42,000 from the prior period.

ob cuts surged to their highest level in nearly five years in February, due in part to President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut down the federal government workforce, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday. The firm reported that U.S. employers announced 172,017 layoffs for the month, up 245% from January and the highest monthly count since July 2020. What’s more, it marked the highest total for the month of February since 2009 during the global financial crisis. More than one-third of the total came from billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s efforts, with Trump’s blessing, to reduce the federal headcount through the so-called DOGE initiative. Challenger put the total of announced federal job cuts at 62,242, spanning 17 agencies.

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

The national average price of gasoline is up three-tenths of a cent at $3.110 per gallon.

Earnings Reports

Nike (NKE) reports earnings on 3/20/25 after the market close.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Visa (V)

Visa (V) 352.68 (+0.13%) is up +11.59% in 2025.

Financial Calendar

07:30 AM ET Challenger Job Cuts (Feb), 49.795K
08:30 AM ET Continuing Jobless Claims, 1,880K, 1,862K
08:30 AM ET Exports (Jan), 266.50B
08:30 AM ET Imports (Jan), 364.90B
08:30 AM ET Initial Jobless Claims, 234K, 242K
08:30 AM ET Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg., 224.00K
08:30 AM ET Nonfarm Productivity (QoQ) (Q4), 1.2%, 2.2%
08:30 AM ET Trade Balance (Jan), -128.30B, -98.40B
08:30 AM ET Unit Labor Costs (QoQ) (Q4), 3.0%, 0.8%
10:00 AM ET Wholesale Inventories (MoM) (Jan), 0.7%, 0.7%
10:00 AM ET Wholesale Trade Sales (MoM) (Jan), 1.0%
10:30 AM ET Natural Gas Storage, -96B, -261B
11:30 AM ET 4-Week Bill Auction, 4.235%
11:30 AM ET 8-Week Bill Auction, 4.235%
12:00 PM ET Total Vehicle Sales (Feb), 15.60M
13:00 PM ET Atlanta Fed GDPNow (Q1), -2.8%, -2.8%
15:30 PM ET Fed Waller Speaks
16:30 PM ET Fed’s Balance Sheet, 6,766B
16:30 PM ET Reserve Balances with Federal Reserve Banks, 3.380T
19:00 PM ET FOMC Member Barkin Speaks
19:00 PM ET FOMC Member Bostic Speaks