US stocks climb to the brink of a record
NEW YORK AP The U S stock field is rising toward the brink of another record The S P was higher in afternoon trading and just below its all-time high which was set in February The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up points or as of p m Eastern time and the Nasdaq composite was higher McCormick the seller of cooking spices helped lead the way and rallied after delivering a better-than-expected profit statement The company also gave a forecast for profit over its full fiscal year that topped analysts expectations including planned efforts to offset increased costs caused by President Donald Trump s tariffs Over the longer term it s been big equipment stocks that have led the arena for years and since the S P fell roughly below its record during the spring on worries about tariffs Chip company Nvidia which has been the poster child of the frenzy around artificial-intelligence apparatus added It s the majority of valuable company in the U S stock sphere after rushing higher since the sphere hit a bottom on April towering over the S P s gain of Another AI darling Super Micro Computer rose to bring its gain since April to more than Micron Mechanism which sells computer memory and input storage swung between gains and losses after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected CEO Sanjay Mehrotra explained it s seeing AI-driven memory demand and the company gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that topped analysts expectations Its stock was majority lately down Wall Street s worries about Trump s tariffs have receded since the president shocked the world in April with stiff proposed levies but they have not disappeared The wait is still on to see how big the tariffs will ultimately be how much they will hurt the market system and how much they will push up inflation The financial system so far seems to be holding up OK though slowing and more reports arrived on Thursday bolstering that One mentioned that orders for washing machines and other manufactured goods that last at least three years grew by more last month than economists expected A second mentioned fewer U S workers filed for unemployment benefits last week a prospective signal of fewer layoffs A third account revealed the U S business sector shrank by more during the first three months of than earlier estimated But a large number of economists say those numbers got distorted by how a great number of U S companies rushed early this year to buy foreign products ahead of tariffs and they re expecting a better performance in upcoming months Following the reports Treasury yields swiveled up and down in the bond domain but they ultimately did not move very much The yield on the -year Treasury fell to from late Wednesday The two-year Treasury yield which more closely tracks expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do held steady at Analysts reported yields may be feeling downward pressure because of a analysis from The Wall Street Journal saying Trump could name his nominee to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell unusually early in an attempt to undermine him That could hurt confidence among investors about the Fed s capability to make unpopular decisions when it comes to fighting inflation Powell has been repeating lately that the Federal Reserve is waiting to see how tariffs will affect the market system before deciding when to resume cutting interest rates It has been on pause this year because lower rates can help give inflation more fuel along with giving the financial system a boost Trump though has been adamant about wanting cuts to rates sooner and has insulted Powell repeatedly Two of his appointees to the Fed have also disclosed just now that they would consider cutting rates as soon as the Fed s next meeting in about a month Yields fell the dollar weakened and break evens rose all suggesting that a puppet of the White House in the seat of the Chair could be bad for inflation commented Brian Jacobsen chief economist at Annex Wealth Management But Jacobsen revealed decisions on interest rates would still rest with a committee of Fed executives not just the chair and other personnel could possibly keep the new leader in check if needed In stock markets abroad indexes were mixed in Europe following a mixed finish in Asia Japan s Nikkei rose and South Korea s Kospi fell for two of the bigger moves In the oil territory which has been the center of much of this week s action crude prices made up a bit more ground after plunging earlier this week A barrel of benchmark U S crude oil rose to though it still remains below where it was when Israel s war with Iran began
