Major stock indexes finished mostly lower Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 reversing course after setting fresh all-time highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is having its best start to any new year since 2018, bolstered by financial and industrial names like Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Caterpillar Inc., despite pullbacks in the blue-chip index and both companies’ shares on Wednesday.

Monday’s gains put the Dow in the lead among major U.S. equity benchmarks, with the index advancing 1.5% on the session. Among individual components, several key names contributed notably to the rally including shares of Chevron ( CVX) which have gained more than 5%.

Major stock indexes soared Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting an all-time high, after the U.S. military seized Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro over the weekend.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is off to a strong start in 2026. With the index trading higher today, it's currently on pace for its best three-day start to the year in over a decade. Right now, the Dow is up about 2.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit record all-time highs in 2025 with many of the components ending the year higher. Along with serving as a well-known barometer of overall market health, the index offers some of the top yielding blue-chip stocks.

Among the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 30 time-tested components, there are two inexpensive industry leaders that can deliver for patient investors, as well as a highflier that may struggle to justify its premium valuation.

Dow Jones futures were little changed after hours, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures.The stock market rally was mixed but generally lower Wednesday, fading in the afternoon. The Nasdaq rose but pared intraday gains while the other indexes fell.

U.S. stocks finished mostly lower on Wednesday, as rallies for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 paused after pushing both major indexes into record territory earlier this week. T

Today, the top three high-yield stocks in the Dow are Verizon Communications ( VZ +0.17%) with a lofty 6.8% yield, Chevron ( CVX 4.29%) with an attractive 4.5% yield, and Merck ( MRK +1.33%) with a somewhat more pedestrian 3.2% yield. Here's a quick look at each one.