Wall Street has reached new records as the S&P 500 index climbed 0.5% to its all-time high, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 229 points and the Nasdaq composite added 0.7%. The boost was driven by strong profit reports from companies like PepsiCo and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which saw a surge in demand for artificial-intelligence related products.
Tech stocks, including Nvidia and Lucid Group, also climbed on the back of positive results from companies using autonomous systems. In contrast, Abbott Laboratories fell 8.5% despite beating analyst expectations, while Elevance Health dropped 12.2%. These mixed results suggest that investors remain cautious about inflation and interest rates.
The solid economic data, including a stronger jobs market and increased consumer spending, has helped keep the US economy out of a recession. However, the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates remains uncertain, with President Trump’s comments on firing the Fed chair creating uncertainty.
As a result, investors are taking cues from Treasury yields, which rose to 3.91% for the two-year yield and edged down to 4.45% for the 10-year yield. The mixed signals suggest that Wall Street will continue to navigate volatility in the coming weeks.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/stocks-markets-rates-powell-trump-ee3ff3ef24f5054fb0550605a922df83