Dow stocks hitting 52-week highs include Verizon (VZ) 51.20 (+0.65%). There were no Dow stocks hitting 52-week lows.

The Market

Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to be down -380 points.

Wednesday the Dow closed up +238.14 (+0.49%) at 48,739.41.

Year-to-date the Dow is up +1.41%.

Wednesday, (17) Dow stocks were up, none made 52-week lows, and (1) made 52-week highs.

The Dow stock winners Wednesday were led by Amazon (AMZN) 216.82 (+3.88%), Cisco (CSCO) 80.87 (+2.42%) and IBM (IBM) 250.06 (+1.95%).

The Dow stock losers Wednesday were led by Coca Cola (KO) 78.10 (-1.56%), Salesforce (CRM) 193.08 (-1.51%) and Chevron (CVX) 186.03 (-1.45%).

The VIX closed Wednesday at 21.15 (-10.27%) and the 10 YR at 4.115 (+0.76%). The VIX is currently at 22.64 (+7.04%). The 10YR is at 4.148 (+1.54%).

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures popped 3% to trade above $76 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude futures traded more than 2% higher at more than $83 per barrel.

Initial filings for unemployment claims totaled 213,000 for the week ending Feb. 28, unchanged from the prior period and just below the estimate for 215,000, the Labor Department said. Continuing claims, which run a week behind, increased by 46,000 to 1.87 million.

Productivity and labor costs both increased more than expected in the fourth quarter while layoffs were little changed over the past week, according to economic data released Thursday. Productivity, a measure of output against hours worked, increased 2.8% for the October-through-December period, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had forecast a 1.8% increase. On an annual basis, productivity also rose 2.8%. Similarly, unit labor costs, or compensation less productivity, also posted a 2.8% again, higher than the 2% estimate. Labor costs increased 1.3% for the 12-month period. The BLS also reported that import prices rose 0.2% in January, below the 0.3% estimate.

Continuing a trend in the labor market, both planned layoffs and hiring slumped in February, according to outplacement and coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. In its monthly tracking of activity at large U.S. employers, Challenger said companies announced 48,307 job cuts during the month, a 55% drop from January and a 72% decrease from the same month a year ago. Of the cuts, technology accounted for the biggest share, with a 51% increase from February 2025. Artificial intelligence was cited as the driver for 10% of the reductions. On the hiring side, plans jumped 140% from the low January total but were off 63% from February 2025. Year-to-date hiring plans are down 56% from the same period a year ago.

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

The national average price of gasoline is up 8.9 cents at $3.109 per gallon. That totals 20.1 cents in the last two days.

Earnings Reports

Nike (NKE) reports earnings on 3/31/26 after the market close.

Today’s Featured Dow Stock

Verizon (VZ)

Verizon (VZ) 51.20 (+0.65%) is up +25.71% in 2026.

Financial Calendar

07:30 AM ET Challenger Job Cuts (YoY), 117.8%
07:30 AM ET Challenger Job Cuts (Feb), 108.435K
07:30 AM ET Trade Balance (Jan), -70.30B
08:30 AM ET Continuing Jobless Claims, 1,850K, 1,833K
08:30 AM ET Export Price Index (MoM) (Jan), 0.3%, 0.3%
08:30 AM ET Export Price Index (YoY) (Jan), 3.1%
08:30 AM ET Exports (Jan), 287.30B
08:30 AM ET Import Price Index (MoM) (Jan), 0.3%, 0.1%
08:30 AM ET Import Price Index (YoY) (Jan), 0.0%
08:30 AM ET Imports (Jan), 357.60B
08:30 AM ET Initial Jobless Claims, 215K, 212K
08:30 AM ET Jobless Claims 4-Week Avg., 220.25K
08:30 AM ET Nonfarm Productivity (QoQ) (Q4), 1.9%, 4.9%
08:30 AM ET Unit Labor Costs (QoQ) (Q4), 2.0%, -1.9%
10:00 AM ET Factory Orders (MoM) (Jan), -0.7%
10:00 AM ET Factory orders ex transportation (MoM) (Jan), 0.4%
10:30 AM ET Natural Gas Storage, -122B, -52B
11:30 AM ET 4-Week Bill Auction, 3.625%
11:30 AM ET 8-Week Bill Auction, 3.630%
13:15 PM ET FOMC Member Bowman Speaks
15:30 PM ET Reserve Balances with Federal Reserve Banks, 3.004
16:30 PM ET Fed’s Balance Sheet, 6,614B