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In early trading on Wednesday, Merck shares rose by 1.9%, making it the best-performing component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Year to date, Merck has gained 3.4%. Meanwhile, Microsoft, the worst performer of the day, fell by 2.5%, but maintains a year-to-date gain of 13.4%.
Additionally, Caterpillar shares declined by 1.7%, while Verizon Communications saw an increase of 1.6% during the same trading session.
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