{"id":59745,"date":"2026-03-13T11:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T15:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/dowjonestodaydow-jones-inches-higher-as-defensive-rotation-leads-friday-trading\/59745\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T11:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T15:10:08","slug":"dowjonestodaydow-jones-inches-higher-as-defensive-rotation-leads-friday-trading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/dowjonestodaydow-jones-inches-higher-as-defensive-rotation-leads-friday-trading\/59745\/","title":{"rendered":"[DowJonesToday]Dow Jones Inches Higher as Defensive Rotation Leads Friday Trading"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/dowjones\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Dow Jones Today\">Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average (^DJI)<\/strong> was up <strong>54.02 (0.12%)<\/strong> points today, reaching <strong>46,731.87<\/strong>, while <strong>Dow Futures (YM=F)<\/strong> was up <strong>47.00 (0.10%)<\/strong> points today at <strong>46,768.00<\/strong>. The primary narrative driving the market this Friday is a tactical rotation into defensive sectors following the <strong>University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment<\/strong> report. While the headline figure showed consumer resilience, <strong>long-term inflation expectations<\/strong> remained stubbornly high, prompting a pullback in growth-heavy tech stocks and cyclical industrials that are sensitive to interest rate volatility.<\/p>\n<p>Leading the blue-chip index was UnitedHealth Group (<a href=\"\/stock\/UNH\">UNH<\/a>), which was up <strong>1.75%<\/strong> to <strong>$281.90<\/strong> as investors sought safety in healthcare. Aerospace giant Boeing (<a href=\"\/stock\/BA\">BA<\/a>) also provided significant support, as it was up <strong>1.44%<\/strong> to <strong>$207.31<\/strong> following reports of a new wide-body aircraft order. Other notable gainers included Sherwin-Williams (<a href=\"\/stock\/SHW\">SHW<\/a>), up <strong>1.12%<\/strong> to <strong>$321.67<\/strong>, and Disney (<a href=\"\/stock\/DIS\">DIS<\/a>), up <strong>1.08%<\/strong> to <strong>$100.53<\/strong>, buoyed by strong theme park attendance projections and streaming growth.<\/p>\n<p>On the downside, the market faced pressure from Caterpillar (<a href=\"\/stock\/CAT\">CAT<\/a>), which was down <strong>1.44%<\/strong> to <strong>$690.91<\/strong>, as concerns over global manufacturing demand weighed on the heavy machinery leader. Tech and software stocks also struggled, with Salesforce (<a href=\"\/stock\/CRM\">CRM<\/a>) down <strong>1.30%<\/strong> to <strong>$197.30<\/strong> and Apple (<a href=\"\/stock\/AAPL\">AAPL<\/a>) down <strong>0.56%<\/strong> to <strong>$254.36<\/strong>. Energy major Chevron (<a href=\"\/stock\/CVX\">CVX<\/a>) was down <strong>0.77%<\/strong> to <strong>$195.50<\/strong> amid a retreat in <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/energy\/crude-oil\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"12\" title=\"Crude oil\">oil prices<\/a>, illustrating the day&#39;s trend of selective, defensive positioning across the <strong>30-stock index<\/strong> components.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was up 54.02 (0.12%) points today, reaching 46,731.87, while Dow Futures (YM=F) was up 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