The U.S. stock market is drifting lower following mixed data on the economy’s strength. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% Tuesday and remains a bit below its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 271 points, and the Nasdaq composite was mostly unchanged. Treasury yields eased a bit after the reports on the U.S. job market, retail sales and business activity did little to clear uncertainty about where the Federal Reserve may take interest rates next year. AI stocks, which have been under heavy pressure recently, were mixed. Stock indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia.
Many U.S. consumers say they’ve noticed higher than usual prices for holiday gifts in recent months, according to a a December poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A contributing factor is the unusually high import taxes the Trump administration put on foreign goods. While the worst-case consumer impact that many economists foresaw from the administration’s trade policies hasn’t materialized, some popular gift items have been affected more than others. Most toys and electronics sold in the U.S. come from China. So do most holiday decorations. Jewelry prices have risen due to the cost of gold.
A sell-off for Oracle is weighing on Wall Street as investors question whether its big spending on artificial-intelligence technology will pay off. The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged Thursday and hovering around its all-time high set in October. Drops for AI-related stocks dragged the Nasdaq composite down 0.6%. Oracle at one point was heading toward its worst loss since 2001 on worries about how much it plans to spend on AI infrastructure. But most stocks on Wall Street rose, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 600 points. Treasury yields slipped after a report showed more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits.
The U.S. stock market is flirting with its all-time high after the Federal Reserve cut its main interest rate to bolster the job market. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% Wednesday and was on track to squeak past its all-time closing high, which was set in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 559 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%. Wall Street loves lower interest rates because they can boost the economy and goose prices for investments, even if they have the potential of making inflation worse. Treasury yields eased in the bond market.
The U.S. stock market is drifting near its record levels following reactions to profit reports from Macy’s, Marvell Technologies and other companies. The S&P 500 added 0.4% Wednesday and climbed within 0.5% of its all-time high set in late October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 428 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. Treasury yields eased in the bond market following some mixed reports on the U.S. economy. One suggested hiring was much weaker in November than economists expected, while a second said growth for U.S. services businesses was better than expected.
The Enhanced Games is going public in two ways — with a new listing on the Nadsaq stock exchange and also by offering a direct-to-consumer business focused on performance products.
U.S. stocks are rising following updates on the economy that kept alive hopes for a coming cut to interest rates. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, as 4 out of every 5 stocks within the index climbed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 562 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%. Nvidia weighed on the market after a report suggested Meta Platforms may spend billions on AI chips from Alphabet instead of it. Treasury yields eased after reports on U.S. retail sales and inflation kept traders betting on a good chance for a cut to interest rates in December.
The U.S. stock market is rallying after it seemed to successfully pass a couple of crucial tests. Not only did Nvidia provide another blockbuster profit report that suggested AI superstar stocks can keep rising, a mixed report on the U.S. jobs market Tuesday also kept alive hopes for more cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 rose 1.7% Thursday and pulled closer to its all-time high set almost a month ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 581 points, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.2%. Walmart also rose after delivering better-than-expected results.
Computer chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly earnings report that is expected to either deepen a recent downturn in the stock market or prompt an ebullient sigh of relief among investors increasingly worried the world’s most valuable company is perched upon an artificial intelligence bubble about to burst.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
The mighty heft of Amazon is pulling the U.S. stock market higher. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% Friday, erasing some of its slump from the day before and pulling closer to its all-time high set on Tuesday. The index is on track to close a third straight winning week and a sixth straight winning month, which would be its longest monthly winning streak since 2021. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 65 points, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1%. Amazon led the way after delivering a much bigger profit than analysts expected. Treasury yields eased a bit in the bond market.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
The Federal Reserve will almost certainly cut its key interest rate on Wednesday and could signal it expects another cut in December as the central bank seeks to bolster hiring. A cut Wednesday would be the second this year and could benefit consumers by bringing down borrowing costs for mortgages and auto loans. Since Fed chair Jerome Powell strongly signaled in late August that rate cuts were likely this year, the average 30-year mortgage rate has fallen to about 6.2% from 6.6%. Still, the Fed is navigating an unusual period for the U.S. economy and its future moves are harder to anticipate than is typically the case.
