Wall Street hit new record highs on Tuesday, even as major stock indexes were little changed after a lackluster day of trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9 points, or less than 0.1%, to hit its second all-time high in two days. The index has risen for eight consecutive days.
The benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Indexes both ended up 0.2% after oscillating between small gains and losses throughout the day. The benchmark S&P 500 is within 0.8% of its all-time high hit last month.
On the New York Stock Exchange, stock indexes ended mixed on Monday, with slightly more stocks declining than advancing, reflecting choppy trading so far this week.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average have been trading near all-time highs since last week as investors bet the Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates.
Wall Street is also watching earnings reports for clues about the state of the economy and consumer health, as well as to gauge whether valuations of big tech growth companies like Nvidia are overvalued relative to the companies' future growth prospects.
“That's the big question, and it's going to be a big part of Nvidia's earnings report this week,” said Bill Mertz, head of capital markets research at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “That's kind of the question that a lot of investors are looking at, and it's something that can't be ignored.”
The semiconductor company, which has a market capitalization of more than $3 trillion, reports its latest results on Wednesday. It rose 1.5% on Tuesday. Wall Street is in a frenzy. artificial intelligence This has contributed to the stock's 159% increase this year.
On Tuesday, the market had some positive economic data to consider.
The Conference Board, a business research organization, Consumer Confidence Index The consumer price index rose to 103.3 in August from 101.9 in July, beating economists' expectations and potentially strengthening the view that consumers remain resilient despite inflationary pressures.
Consumer spending accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity and, along with the job market, is a strong sector of the economy.
Best Buy and Dollar General are scheduled to report their latest earnings results on Thursday, which could give investors more information about where consumers are spending and how much they are spending.
Most S&P 500 companies have reported better-than-expected profits so far this earnings season, and shares of several companies rose on Tuesday as traders cheered the latest quarterly results.
Hain Celestial Group Inc. rose 18.6 percent after its fourth-quarter profit beat Wall Street expectations, while Trip.com Group Inc. rose 8.6 percent after its second-quarter profit beat analysts' expectations and touted strong travel demand.
Traders also bought shares of cruise line operators, with Royal Caribbean up 4.3 percent, Norwegian Cruise Line up 3.6 percent and Carnival up 2.7 percent.
The parent company is Paramount The film studio's shares fell 7.1% after former Warner Music Group head Edgar Bronfman Jr. walked away from a bid to buy the company, paving the way for a takeover by media company Skydance.
Stocks are still trading near record levels. Seth Sutell, Associated Press
Overall, the S&P 500 rose 8.96 points to 5,625.80, the Dow added 9.98 points to 41,250.50 and the Nasdaq added 29.05 points to close at 17,754.82.
In the bond market, Treasury yields were steady, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising to 3.83% from Monday's close of 3.82%.
Investors are awaiting Friday the government's release of the latest data on inflation, the July personal consumption expenditures report, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, which has signaled a long-awaited end to inflation. Interest rate cuts He is coming.
Inflation has fallen steadily over the past two years since the central bank raised interest rates to their highest level in two decades, bringing the economy closer to the Fed's goal of containing inflation without tipping the economy into recession, as the economy can withstand both inflation and rising borrowing rates.
Traders expect the Fed to start cutting its key interest rate when it next meets in September, cutting it by as much as 1 percentage point by the end of the year.
European markets were mostly higher, while Asian markets were mixed.
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AP Business Writers Zimo Zhong and Matt Ott contributed.
