NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks shook off a shaky start to the day to hit yet another record high on Wall Street. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, hitting a new record of its own. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.6%. In the Treasury market, Treasury yields fell after the latest release on U.S. consumer confidence was unexpectedly weak. Oil, copper and other commodity prices rose after China's central bank took a series of steps to support the world's second-largest economy. Chinese stocks closed broadly higher.
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NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks were hovering near record highs on Tuesday as Chinese shares surged following a wave of monetary easing measures by the People's Bank of China. Supporting the world's second largest economy.
The S&P 500 was up 0.1% in late trading, on track to hit its 41st all-time high this year. The action was volatile, with the index oscillating after an unexpectedly weak report on U.S. consumer confidence released in the morning.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 6 points, or less than 0.1 percent. Recorded the previous dayThe Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.4% with an hour left in trading.
Financial markets have been generally buoyant since the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. Dramatic changes over the past week The method of setting interest rates has changed. Currently, interest rates are Easing the US economy Interest rates have been kept high for years to quell high inflation.
One risk that still hangs over markets is China's struggling economy and the extent to which its slowing growth will have a global impact. After announcing a number of modest, piecemeal measures so far, the head of the People's Bank of China on Tuesday unveiled a series of wide-ranging reforms to shore up the economy, including cutting required reserves for banks.
Analysts called the coordinated moves encouraging and helped send Chinese stocks soaring, with the Shanghai index up 4.2 percent and Hong Kong's 4.1 percent. But questions remain about how much of a boost it will provide to an economy that has been struggling since Chinese authorities cracked down on excessive borrowing by property developers.
Prices for oil and other commodities that a healthy Chinese economy will consume rose. Copper rose about 4%.
Another risk looming on Wall Street is a slowdown in the U.S. labor market. was greatly alleviated the It peaked in the summer two years ago.The main concerns of investors are Slowing employment The downturn caused by U.S. companies could get worse.
Interest rate hikes are known to take a long time to fully permeate the economy, and until last week the Federal Reserve had left its key interest rate at its highest level in 20 years for more than a year before making the unusually large cut in the hopes of providing relief to the job market and economy.
According to a report released Tuesday, the U.S. Households are feeling more anxious Regarding the job market, overall confidence fell in September, rather than rising as much as economists had expected, according to the Conference Board. This is a big problem because U.S. consumer spending is the heart of the U.S. economy.
Shares in AutoZone Inc., a retailer of replacement parts and accessories, fell 0.9% after the company said a key measure of sales at its U.S. stores barely grew in the latest quarter, disappointingly reporting profit and revenue that fell short of analysts' expectations.
AutoZone said customers at its U.S. stores continued to postpone non-essential purchases.
Thor Industries, another company that relies on U.S. consumers' demand for non-essential goods, rose 6.9% after a mixed earnings report. The recreational vehicle maker reported profit and revenue for its latest quarter that beat analysts' expectations but also provided an outlook for the next quarter that showed the RV market remaining tough.
“There has been repeated talk of market weakness, but we remain focused on navigating it while improving efficiency,” Chief Executive Officer Bob Martin said.
One of Wall Street's big winners Smart SheetShares of Salesforce, which helps companies manage projects and automate workflows, rose 6.4% after Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners agreed to acquire the company for $8.4 billion in an all-cash deal.
In the bond market, Treasury yields fell after a weaker-than-expected consumer confidence index erased earlier gains. The 10-year yield fell to 3.73% from 3.75% late Monday. The 2-year yield, which better reflects expectations for future Fed actions, fell to 3.55% from 3.59% late Monday.
Yields fell as traders raised their estimates for how much the Federal Reserve will cut rates when it next meets in November. Traders now see a 58% chance of another, larger-than-usual half-percentage-point cut, from 53% a day earlier, according to CME Group data.
Wall Street loves low interest rates because they make it cheaper to borrow money on a credit card to buy a car, a house, or something else, which stimulates the economy, and they also tend to make all kinds of investments more expensive.
The biggest driver of the S&P 500 index on Tuesday was a 4.3% surge in Nvidia. The semiconductor company's shares had fallen 27% over the summer on concerns that its stock price had risen too high amid enthusiasm for artificial intelligence technology. But falling interest rates have eased some of that criticism, and Nvidia's shares have been recovering since the start of August.
Overseas stock markets saw stock indexes rise in many European and Asian countries, with France's CAC 40 up 1.3%, South Korea's KOSPI up 1.1% and Japan's Nikkei up 0.6%.
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AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed.
