NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are holding near their record levels on Tuesday following their eight-day winning streak.
The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in early trading. It’s hanging within 1% of its all-time high after falling nearly 10% below the mark earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 82 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.
Palo Alto Networks was helping lead the market with a gain of 6.6%. The cybersecurity company became the latest big business to report stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Companies in the S&P 500 are on track to report their best growth in earnings per share since the end of 2021, according to FactSet.
Lowe’s likewise topped analysts’ forecasts for profit in the spring, but its stock was more restrained. The home improvement retailer said it’s facing a challenging economic backdrop, “especially for the homeowner,” and cut its forecasts for revenue and profit this fiscal year. Its stock fell 1.1%.
High interest rates have been weighing on the economy after the Federal Reserve hiked them sharply in order to get inflation under control. On Tuesday, Treasury yields were easing ahead of a speech on Friday by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, one that’s likely to be the week’s highlight for financial markets.
The economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Powell will be speaking has been home to big policy announcements in the past. Expectations aren’t that high this time around, with nearly everyone already expecting the Fed will begin cutting interest rates next month.
The biggest question is whether the economy needs the Federal Reserve merely to remove the brakes or if it needs an extra boost requiring deeper and faster cuts. A surprisingly weak report on hiring by U.S. employers last month raised worries the Fed has already kept interest rates too high for too long, but ensuing reports on everything from inflation to sales at U.S. retailers helped bolstered optimism.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.84% from 3.87% late Monday.
On Wall Street, the company behind Hawaiian Airlines soared 11.4% after it said its proposed merger with the company behind Alaska Airlines has cleared a major regulatory hurdle. A review period by U.S. antitrust regulators for the deal has passed.
Alaska Air Group slipped 0.2%.
___
AP Business Writer Matt Ott contributed.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
