NEW YORK (AP) — The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite indexes are ticking toward all-time highs on Wednesday amid a mixed day for Wall Street overall.
The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in morning trading and nearing its all-time high set two weeks ago. The Nasdaq composite was 0.7% higher, as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time, and also approaching its record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was lagging the market and down 117 points, or 0.3%.
Several fatter-than-expected profit reports for the start of the year helped drive the market. Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped 14% after saying strong sales related to artificial-intelligence systems helped it deliver better results than analysts expected. It also raised its financial forecasts for the year. Cybersecurity company Crowdstrike climbed 4.7% after likewise delivering better results than expected.
They worked against a 2.8% drop for Dollar Tree, which matched analysts’ expectations for profit but fell just shy for revenue. The retailer also said it’s considering selling or spinning off its Family Dollar business.
The broad retail industry has been highlighting challenges for lower-income U.S. households, which are trying to keep up with still-high inflation.
Treasury yields were holding relatively steady in the bond market following some mixed data on the economy. One report said real estate, health care and other businesses in the U.S. services sector returned to growth last month and blew by economists' forecasts. Perhaps more importantly for Wall Street, the report from the Institute for Supply Management also said prices rose at a slower pace in May than a month before.
Another report in the morning suggested hiring slowed last month by more than expected at U.S. employers outside the government.
Stocks have generally been shaky recently after several reports suggested the U.S. economy’s growth is fading under the weight of high interest rates. Wall Street has actually been hoping for such a slowdown because it can drive down inflation and convince the Federal Reserve to deliver the cuts to interest rates that traders desire so much. But it also raises the possibility of overshooting and sending the economy into a recession, which would ultimately hurt stock prices.
Treasury yields have sunk sharply after the weaker-than-expected economic reports raised expectations for coming cuts to rates by the Federal Reserve.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury erased a bit of that loss following the stronger-than-expected data on U.S. services businesses. It edged up to 4.34% from 4.33% late Tuesday. It's still well below the 4.60% that it reached a week ago.
The next big move for Treasury yields and Wall Street overall could come Friday, when the U.S. government releases its monthly jobs report. That report is much more comprehensive than Wednesday's from ADP, which focuses only on the private sector, and economists expect Friday's data to show a slight pickup in overall hiring. The hope continues to be that the job market slows its growth but not so much that it falls into widespread layoffs.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe. Investors expect the European Central Bank to cut interest rates at its meeting on Thursday amid worries about a flaccid economy.
Stocks fell across much of Asia, with indexes falling 0.9% in Tokyo and 0.8%, but they rose 1% in Seoul.
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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.
