The S&P 500 rose 8.56 points, or 0.2%, to 4,697.24 after drifting between small gains and losses through the day. It capped the first down week for the index in the last 10, after it roared into 2024 on hopes that inflation and the overall economy are cooling enough for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates sharply through the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25.77, or 0.1%, to 37.466.11 and inched closer to its record set earlier in the week. The Nasdaq composite added 13.77, or 0.1%, to 14,524.07.

Treasury yields swung sharply in the bond market following the economic reports. They initially climbed after the latest monthly jobs report showed U.S. employers unexpectedly accelerated their hiring last month. Average hourly pay for workers also rose, when economists had been forecasting a dip.

Such strong numbers are good news for workers, and they should keep the economy humming. That’s a positive for corporate profits, which are one of the main factors that set prices for stocks.

But Wall Street’s worry is the strong data could also convince the Federal Reserve upward pressure remains on inflation. That in turn could mean the Fed will hold interest rates high for longer than expected. Interest rates affect the other big factor setting stock prices, with high ones hurting financial markets.

The jobs report briefly forced traders to push out their forecasts for when the Fed could begin to cut rates. But a report later in the morning showed that growth for finance, real estate and other companies in the U.S. services industries slowed by more than economists expected last month.

Following that report, traders quickly built bets back up for the Fed to begin cutting rates in March. They’re now forecasting a nearly two-in-three chance of that, similar to a day earlier, according to data from CME Group.

Altogether, the data could bolster Wall Street’s building hopes for a perfect landing for the economy, one where it slows just enough through high interest rates to stamp out high inflation but not so much that it causes a recession.

After climbing as high as 4.09% immediately after the jobs report, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to back to 3.96% following the weaker-than-expected report on services industries. It eventually pulled back to 4.04%, compared with 4.00% late Thursday.

On Wall Street, Constellation Brands climbed 2.1% after the seller of Corona and Modelo beers in the United States reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Travel-related companies were also strong and clawing back more of their losses from earlier in the week. Carnival rose 2.8%, and American Airlines gained 3.9%.

On the losing end was Apple, whose 0.4% dip Friday sent it to a 5.9% loss for the week, its worst since September. It’s a sharp turnaround from last year, when the market’s most influential stock soared more than 48%.

This week’s broad pullback for stocks was not a surprise for many on Wall Street, who had been calling its big run since autumn overdone. Critics say the six rate cuts traders are betting on for 2024 is unlikely unless a recession occurs. The Fed itself indicated in its latest summary of economic projections, or SEP, that three cuts may be more likely.

“Many who assume that the Fed will need to move faster and more aggressively than its SEP projections or recent statements likely received a dose of reality this week,” said Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of global fixed income at BlackRock. “Things are cooling, but in a more moderate way than historically, similarly to the weather these days. There are spurts of faster cooling in some areas, but generally nothing that people should panic about, or aggressively seek shelter from.”

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mostly lower in Europe after data showed showed inflation rose to 2.9% in December. The rebound after seven monthly declines fueled debate over how soon the European Central Bank could cut its own interest rates.

Indexes were also lower across much of Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was an exception and rose 0.3%.

Japanese exporters are betting a boost from the falling value of the yen against other currencies. The yen has weakened in recent days amid speculation the Bank of Japan might go slowly on changing its ultra-aggressive policy on interest rates following Monday’s major earthquake in central Japan.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

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The S&P 500 slipped 16.13, or 0.3%, to 4,688.68 and is on track for its first losing week in the last 10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain of 10.15 points, or less than 0.1%, to 37,440.34, and the Nasdaq composite fell 81.91, or 0.6%, to 14,510.30.

Walgreens Boots Alliance sank 5.1% after it nearly halved its dividend so it could hold onto more cash. That helped overshadow gains for airlines and cruise-ship operators, which recovered some of their sharp losses from earlier in the week. Carnival steamed 3.1% higher, and United Airlines got a 2.4% lift.

U.S. stocks have broadly regressed this week after rallying into the end of last year toward record heights. Critics said the market was due for at least a breather following its big run, which fed on hopes inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates sharply this year.

Rate cuts give a boost to prices for stocks and other investments, while also relaxing the pressure on the economy and financial system. Treasury yields in the bond market have already eased since autumn on expectations for such cuts, releasing pressure on the stock market.

But Treasury yields rose Thursday following reports showing the job market may be stronger than expected. The economy is in a delicate phase where investors want it to remain solid, but not too hot.

A healthy job market is of course good for workers and stamps out worries about an imminent recession. But too much strength could prod the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high because it could keep upward pressure on inflation. And the Fed has already hiked its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001.

One report from the U.S. government on Thursday showed fewer U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than expected. Another from ADP Research Institute said private employers accelerated their hiring last month by more than economists expected.

A more comprehensive report on the jobs market from the U.S. Labor Department will arrive on Friday. Economists expect that to show U.S. hiring slowed to 160,000 jobs last month from 199,000 in November.

“If tomorrow’s numbers show the same kind of strength and the economy keeps rolling along, it’s fair to wonder why the Fed would be in a rush to cut rates,” said Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.

Traders are betting the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by twice as much this year as the central bank has indicated. Wall Street is also thinking the first cut could come as soon as March, and a stronger-than-expected economy makes such predictions less realistic. Critics had already called them overly aggressive.

A third report from S&P Global said that growth for financial businesses and others in U.S. services industries was a touch stronger last month than expected.

Following Thursday’s data reports, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.99% from 3.91% late Wednesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, climbed to 4.39% from 4.33%.

Stocks have already rallied in part on expectations for sharp cuts coming to interest rates soon. If the Fed doesn’t cut as deeply and as quickly as expected, prices for stocks and other investments could be in jeopardy.

On Wall Street, Peloton Interactive jumped 13.9% after it announced a partnership to bring its workout content to TikTok.

APA fell 7.3% after it said it will buy Callon Petroleum in an all-stock deal valued at roughly $4.5 billion, including debt. Callon Petroleum gained 2.9%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were modestly higher in much of Europe and a bit lower in much of Asia.

In Tokyo, the mood was somber as the market reopened from the New Year holidays with a moment of silence after a major earthquake Monday left at least 77 people dead and dozens missing.

Dark-suited officials bowed their heads in a ceremony that usually features women clad in colorful kimonos. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.5%.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

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The S&P 500 lost 38.02, or 0.8%, to 4,704.81, though it remains within 2% of its record set exactly two years ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 284.85 points, or 0.8%, from its own record to 37,430.19. The Nasdaq composite led the market lower with a drop of 173.73, or 1.2%, to 14,592.21.

Some of last year’s biggest winners again gave back some of their gains to weigh on the market. Tesla fell 4% after more than doubling last year, for example. It and the other six “Magnificent 7” Big Tech stocks responsible for the majority of Wall Street’s returns last year have regressed some following their tremendous runs.

The question hanging over the market is whether all the enthusiasm that sent stocks broadly rallying for nine straight weeks into the start of this year was warranted. It was built on expectations that inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to not only halt its hikes to interest rates but to cut them several times this year. Hopes are also high the economy can escape a recession, even after the Fed hiked its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001.

A couple of reports released Wednesday morning indicated the overall economy may indeed be slowing from its strong growth last summer, which the Federal Reserve hopes will keep a lid on inflation. A big danger is if it slows too much and begins shrinking.

One report showed U.S. employers were advertising nearly 8.8 million job openings at the end of November, down slightly from the month before and the lowest number since early 2021. The report also showed slightly fewer workers quit their jobs during November.

The Fed is looking for exactly such a cooldown, which it hopes will limit upward pressure on inflation without necessitating widespread layoffs across the economy.

“These data will be welcome news for policymakers,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.

A second report from the Institute for Supply Management showed the U.S. manufacturing industry is improving by a touch more than economists expected, but it’s still contracting. Manufacturing has been one of the hardest-hit areas of the economy recently, while the job market and spending by U.S. households have remained resilient.

Treasury yields slumped immediately after the reports and then yo-yoed though the day. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eventually slipped to 3.91% from 3.94% late Tuesday. It’s been generally falling since topping 5% in October, when it was putting strong downward pressure on the stock market.

In the afternoon, yields swung again after the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its latest policy meeting. It was at that meeting in December that policy makers hinted their dramatic campaign to hike interest rates to get inflation under control may be over. They also released projections showing their median official expects the federal funds rate to fall by 0.75 percentage points through 2024.

The minutes from the meeting revealed “almost all participants” indicated a drop in rates this year would likely be appropriate. But they also said their forecasts were hampered by an “unusually elevated degree of uncertainty.” A reacceleration of inflation, which is still a possibility, could push them to actually raise rates further.

Fed officials also noted in their meeting how stock prices have rallied recently and Treasury yields have eased. Such conditions can rev up the economy and add upward pressure on inflation.

While the Fed doesn’t like that, “the worst they’ll do is push out the date when they first cut,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.

Traders are largely betting the first cut to rates could happen in March, and they’re putting a high probability on the Fed cutting its main interest rate by least 1.50 percentage points through the year, according to data from CME Group. The federal funds rate is currently sitting within a range of 5.25% to 5.50%.

Critics say that’s likely too bold a prediction. “The only way the Fed will cut more than four times in 2024 is if the economy is skidding out of control” into a recession, Jacobsen said.

Even if the Federal Reserve pulls off a perfect landing to shimmy away from high inflation without causing an economic downturn, some critics also say the stock market has simply run too far, too fast in recent months and is due for at least a pause in its run.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia. Losses were particularly sharp in France, where the CAC 40 fell 1.6%, and in South Korea, where the Kospi sank 2.3%. Stocks in Shanghai were an outlier, rising 0.2%.

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The S&P 500 slipped 27.00 points, or 0.6%, to 4,742.83 after coming into the year at the brink of its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 25.50, or 0.1%, to 37,715.04, and the Nasdaq composite led the market lower with a drop of 245.41, or 1.6%, to 14,765.94.

Some of the market’s sharper drops came from stocks that were last year’s biggest winners. Apple lost 3.6% for its worst day in nearly five months, and Nvidia and Meta Platforms both fell more than 2%. Tesla, another member of the “Magnificent 7” Big Tech stocks that drove well over half of Wall Street’s returns last year, swung between losses and gains after reporting its deliveries and production for the end of 2024. It ended the day down by less than 0.1%.

Netherlands-based ASML sank after the Dutch government partially revoked a license to ship some products to customers in China. The United States has been pushing for restrictions on exports of chip technology to China. ASML’s U.S.-listed shares fell 5.3%, and U.S. chip stocks also weakened.

Health care stocks held up better after Wall Street analysts upgraded ratings on a few, including a 13.1% jump for Moderna. Amgen’s 3.3% gain and UnitedHealth Group’s 2.4% climb were two of the strongest forces lifting the Dow.

Much of Wall Street had been preparing for at least a pause in the big rally that carried the S&P 500 to nine straight winning weeks and within 0.6% of its record set almost exactly two years ago. That big surge came on hopes the Federal Reserve may have engineered a perfect escape from high inflation: one where high interest rates slow the economy enough to cool inflation but not so much that they cause a painful recession.

Now, the hope is that the Fed will shift sharply in 2024 and cut interest rates several times. Cuts can relax the pressure on the economy and boost prices for investments. But even though such hopes are high, it’s still not assured. And prices for stocks and bonds have already rallied hard on expectations for them.

At Deutsche Bank, the main expectation among economists is for the Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate by 1.75 percentage points this year, from its current range of 5.25% to 5.50%. That’s a shade more than the majority of traders on Wall Street are betting.

But the Deutsche Bank economists led by Matthew Luzzetti also expect a mild recession to weaken the job market more than the Federal Reserve and much of Wall Street expect. That’s partially because the Deutsche Bank economists expect the Fed to “be adamant to not repeat the mistakes of the 1970s, namely avoiding cutting rates prematurely.”

That would give more time for the rate hikes already instituted by the Fed to fully work their way through the system and grind down the economy. The Fed’s main interest rate is at its highest level in decades, up from virtually zero two years ago.

A report on Tuesday showed that the U.S. manufacturing industry may be weaker than thought. It contracted by more last month than an earlier, preliminary reading indicated, according to S&P Global, as new sales dropped because of weakness both abroad and at home. Business confidence, though, did pick up to a three-month high.

A separate report showed that growth in construction spending slowed by a touch more in November than economists expected.

Like stocks, Treasury yields in the bond market also regressed a bit on Tuesday following their big moves since autumn. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.94% from 3.87% late Friday.

More high-profile reports on the economy will arrive later this week. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its last policy meeting, one that sparked hopes for a series of rate cuts coming this year.

Another report on Wednesday will show how many job openings U.S. employers were advertising at the end of November, data that the Federal Reserve follows closely. Friday will bring the U.S. government’s monthly tally of job growth across the country.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell 1.5% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Shanghai amid worries about the Chinese manufacturing and property sectors.

South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.5%, and indexes were mixed across much of Europe. Japan’s markets were closed for a holiday.

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The broader market remained mostly quiet ahead of the final trading day of the year, though every major index is on track for weekly gains.

The S&P 500 rose 1.77 points, or less than 0.1% to 4,783.35. It is on track for its ninth straight week of gains and is up more than 24% for the year. The two-month rally has also pushed the benchmark index closer to breaking its all-time high set in January of 2022.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 53.58 points, or 0.1%, to 37,710.10.

The Nasdaq composite fell 4.04 points, or less than 0.1%, to 15,095.14. It has far outpaced the broader market this year and is on track to close 2023 with a gain of more than 44%.

Markets in Asia gained ground. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index was an outlier in Asia, shedding 0.4%. Speculation over whether and when the Bank of Japan might ease its longstanding lax monetary policy and raise its key interest rate from minus 0.1% has kept stocks wobbling in the world’s third-largest economy.

Markets in Europe fell.

There are few economic indicators out of Washington this week. The latest weekly report on unemployment benefits showed that applications rose last week, but not enough to raise concerns about the labor market or broader economy. The overall jobs market has been strong throughout 2023 and has been a driving force for the economy.

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate retreated for the ninth straight week to its lowest level since May, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. Mortgage rates have been easing since late October, along with long-term Treasury yields.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury surpassed 5.00% in October, but has also been generally falling since then. It rose to 3.84% on Thursday from 3.79% late Wednesday.

There was also a lack of big corporate news for investors.

Two higher-end models of the Apple Watch can go on sale again after a federal court temporarily lifted a sales halt ordered by the International Trade Commission due to a patent dispute. Apple rose 0.2%.

Technology and communication company stocks had some of the biggest gains. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices rose 1.8%

U.S. crude oil prices fell 3.2% and weighed down energy stocks. Hess fell 2.6%.

Companies are close to wrapping up their latest financial quarter and the next big batch of news will come when they start releasing those results later in January. Overall, companies in the S&P 500 have notched relatively strong profit gains after stumbling during the first half of 2023. That has given Wall Street more hope the economy will remain strong in 2024.

Analysts polled by FactSet expect companies in the S&P 500 to report earnings growth of 1.4% in the fourth quarter and say profit growth should accelerate next year.

Inflation has steadily eased since 2022 and should continue cooling into next year. The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation fell to 2.6% in November from a peak of 7.1% in 2022. That has helped improve forecasts for companies worried about inflation squeezing consumers and raising costs.

Economic data over the last few months have raised hopes that the economy can dodge a recession. Wall Street is betting that the Fed is done raising interest rates and will likely shift to rate cuts in the new year. The central bank has held rates steady since its meeting in July, and Wall Street expects it to start cutting rates as early as March.

Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

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The subdued activity in the market with two trading days left in the year is capping off a broader rally to a strong finish. The S&P 500 is coming of its eight straight winning week and is hovering just below its all-time high set in January of 2022.

The S&P 500 rose 6.83 points, or 0.1%, to 4,781.58. It is up 24% for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 111.19 points, or 0.3%, to close at 37,656.52.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 24.60 points, or 0.2%, to 15,099.18. It has outpaced other major indexes with a gain of 44% this year.

“Consistent buying pressure of this magnitude is not only rare but a bullish sign for improving investor sentiment and market momentum,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial, in a note to investors.

Health care stocks and a mix of retailers had some of the strongest gains. Eli Lilly rose 1.9% and Costco rose 1.1%.

U.S. crude oil prices fell 1.9% and weighed down energy stocks. Marathon Oil fell 1.2%.

Markets in Europe and Asia gained ground.

Bond yields fell significantly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, fell to 3.79% from 3.90% late Tuesday. Yields have been falling over hopes that inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to consider cutting interest rates in 2024.

Several biotechnology companies made big moves after giving investors updates on drug development. Cytokinetics surged 82.5% on an encouraging study update for a potential heart condition treatment. Iovance Biotherapeutics shed 18.7% after pausing a study on a potential lung cancer treatment because of a possible safety issue.

The New York Times rose 2.8% after filing a federal lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft over copyright infringement, seeking to end the practice of using its stories without permission to train chatbots.

The final week of 2023 lacks any big economic updates. Overall, investors have been encouraged by reports showing inflation is on the decline even as the economy appears stronger than expected. The Fed is walking a tightrope, seeking to slow the economy enough through high interest rates to cool inflation, but not so much that it tips the nation into recession.

Inflation slowed to a rate of 2.6% in November, according to a measure closely followed by the Fed. That’s down from 7.1% in the middle of 2022 and edging closer to the central bank’s target of 2% inflation. U.S. economic growth has been steady since contracting in the middle of 2022 and sharply accelerated in the third quarter of 2023.

The data have raised hopes that the economy will likely avoid a recession, or at least avoid a significant one. They have also encouraged Wall Street to bet that the Fed is done raising interest rates and will likely shift to rate cuts in the new year. The central bank has held rates steady since its meeting in July, and Wall Street expects it to start cutting rates as early as March.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, finishing less than 0.5% below its all-time high set nearly two years ago. The benchmark index is coming off eight straight weekly gains, its longest winning streak since 2017.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%, while the Nasdaq composite ended 0.5% higher.

Trading was relatively light as U.S. markets reopened following the Christmas Day holiday. Still, the latest gains were widespread, with advancers outnumbering decliners by nearly 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Technology and industrial stocks accounted for a big share of the gains. Intel climbed 5.2% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks. Caterpillar added 1.8%.

Energy stocks climbed as the price of U.S. crude oil rose 2.7%. Hess closed 1.4% higher.

Solid gains by smaller company stocks also helped lift the market, pushing the Russell 2000 index 1.2% higher.

Treasury yields were mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 3.90%.

Some stocks surged on company deal news. Drugmaker Bristol Myers Squibb said Tuesday that it will acquire RayzeBio in a $4.1 billion deal, just days after buying Karuna Therapeutics for $14 billion. Bristol Myers shares fell 1.6%, while RayzeBio doubled to $61.40, close to the $62.50 that each share will fetch in its acquisition.

Shares in HollySys Automation Technologies jumped 5.2% after the company received an updated buyout offer from a consortium led by Dazheng Group Acquisition.

Stratasys vaulted 13% to $14.82 per share after Nano Dimension announced it has offered to pay $16.50 per share in cash for the buy the maker of 3D printers. Stratasys rejected an earlier buyout bid from Nano Dimension in April.

Gracell Biotechnologies surged 60.3% after the Shanghai-based biopharmaceutical company agreed to be acquired by AztraZeneca.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 20.12 points to 4,774.75. The Dow gained 159.36 points to 37,545.33, and the Nasdaq added 81.60 points to 15,074.57.

With less than a week to go in 2024, the S&P 500 is now up more than 24% for the year, while the Nasdaq is up 44%.

Investors have been encouraged by reports showing inflation is on the decline even as the economy appears stronger than expected.

The Federal Reserve is walking a tightrope, seeking to slow the economy enough through elevated interest rates to cool inflation, but not so much that it tips the nation into recession.

Traders are still largely betting the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate by at least 1.50 percentage points by the end of next year, according to data from CME Group. The federal funds rate is currently sitting within a range of 5.25% to 5.50% at its highest level in more than two decades.

The Federal Reserve released projections earlier this month showing its typical policymaker expects to cut the federal funds rate several times next year, but likely by only half as much as what Wall Street is expecting.

But many see too much optimism over the pace of interest rate cuts early in the year, and that the big run for stocks since late October on anticipation of such support may be overdone.

This week is light on economic reports. The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond issues its monthly manufacturing activity index Wednesday. On Thursday, the Labor Department releases its weekly tally of unemployment benefit claims and the Commerce Department delivers its preliminary November snapshot of wholesale inventories.

European markets remained closed Tuesday.

Shanghai’s benchmark led losses in Asia on heavy selling of technology and computer chip-related shares as worries revived over trade tensions with the U.S. and other western countries.

A number of video gaming companies announced share buybacks to shore up prices after Chinese regulators issued draft guidelines on Friday that caused shares in game makers like Tencent and Netease to plunge. Hong Kong markets were closed Tuesday, so the impact of an effort by Beijing on Monday to cushion the impact of the new rules by voicing support for the industry and announcing the approval of more than 100 games was unclear.

The Shanghai Composite index sank 0.7%. In Shenzhen, where relatively more high-tech companies are listed, the A-share index lost 1.2%.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to sit less than 1% below its record set nearly two years ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 18 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged 0.2% higher.

Bristol Myers Squibb helped lift the market and rose 2% after it said it will buy Karuna Therapeutics in a cash deal valued at a total of $14 billion. That helped offset an 11.8% slump for Nike, which cut its revenue forecast for its fiscal year and dragged sharply on the Dow. The athletic giant cited weakness in China, the downsides of a stronger U.S. dollar for exporters and other challenges.

But Wall Street’s focus was squarely on a suite of economic reports released Friday, which led to some swings in Treasury yields.

Falling yields have been a primary reason the stock market has charged roughly 15% higher since late October. Not only do they boost the economy by encouraging borrowing, they also relax the pressure on the financial system and goose prices for investments. They’ve been easing on hopes that inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates through 2024.

A report on Friday showed the measure of inflation the Federal Reserve prefers to use slowed by more than economists expected, down to 2.6% in November from 2.9% a month earlier. It echoed other inflation reports for November released earlier in the month.

“Inflation has fallen very quickly this year, especially in the last three to five months,” said Niladri “Neel” Mukherjee, chief investment officer of TIAA’s Wealth Management team. Over the next few months, “I think inflation will fade away in terms of top-of-mind items” as risks for financial markets.

Friday’s data also showed spending by U.S. consumers unexpectedly rose during the month. While that’s a good sign for growth for an economy driven mainly by consumer spending, it could also indicate underlying pressure remains on inflation.

“People are tightening their belts, but they’re not suffocating their spending,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.

The Federal Reserve is walking a tightrope, trying to slow the economy enough through high interest rates to cool inflation, but not so much that it tips into a recession. A stronger-than-expected economy could complicate the balancing act.

Other reports on Friday showed orders for long-lasting manufactured goods strengthened more in November than expected, sales of new homes unexpectedly weakened and sentiment for U.S. consumers improved.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury was at 3.89%, roughly its same level from late Thursday. But it swerved a couple of times following the release of the reports. The 10-year yield is still down comfortably from October, when it was above 5% and putting painful downward pressure on the stock market.

Traders are largely betting the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate by at least 1.50 percentage points by the end of next year, according to data from CME Group. The federal funds rate is currently sitting within a range of 5.25% to 5.50% at its highest level in more than two decades.

The Federal Reserve released projections last week showing its typical policymaker expects to cut the federal funds rate several times next year, but likely by only half as much as what Wall Street is expecting.

Critics say Wall Street is too optimistic about how many rate cuts may come in 2024 and when they could begin. They warn the big run for stocks since late October on anticipation of such support may be overdone, or at the least pulling forward returns that would have happened in 2024.

With its eight straight weekly gains, the S&P 500 is in the midst of its longest winning streak since 2017.

Mukherjee of TIAA Wealth Management is relatively optimistic about the U.S. economy in coming years, particularly as artificial-intelligence technology helps reshape the world. But he sees the economy enduring at least a soft patch in the first half of 2024 as the effects of past rate hikes fully make their way through the system.

Plus, he sees the Federal Reserve more hesitant to cut rates than Wall Street expects.

“I think the market has run ahead of itself a little bit in pricing in six rate cuts,” he said. “Inflation is coming down very quickly, but this is a Fed which has been scarred once when they took the view that inflation was transitory back in 2021, and they overstayed their welcome at zero interest rates for longer than anyone though they would. They want to make sure they’re reasonably comfortable, quite comfortable with inflation somewhere in the vicinity of their target.”

All told, the S&P 500 rose 7.88 points to 4,754.63. The Dow slipped 18.38 to 37,385.97, and the Nasdaq gained 29.11 to 14,992.97.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe and Asia.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.7% after China released new regulations for online gaming. That sent stocks of Tencent, China’s largest gaming company, and rival NetEase down sharply.

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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The S&P 500 climbed 1% and is back within 1% of its all-time high, a day after its worst tumble in nearly three months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 322 points, or 0.9%, and came close to setting a record for the sixth time in the last seven days. The Nasdaq composite jumped 1.3%.

Micron Technology leaped 8.6% for one of the market’s biggest gains after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected and saying it sees business conditions improving throughout its fiscal year.

CarMax rose 5.2% after it beat profit expectations despite what it called “persistent widespread pressures in the used car industry.” And cruise operator Carnival steamed 6.2% higher after reporting better quarterly results than expected.

The trio helped lead a widespread rally where more than 90% of the stocks within the S&P 500 climbed.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed following a suite of reports on the economy. Mostly falling yields have been one of the main reasons the stock market has charged so high the last two months. They relax the pressure on the financial system, encourage borrowing and boost prices for investments.

After dipping in the morning, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 3.88% from 3.86% late Wednesday. In October, it had been above 5% and weighing heavily on markets.

Yields have been dropping on hopes that inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to not only halt its hikes to interest rates but to begin cutting them sharply next year. The Fed has hiked its main rate to the highest level in more than two decades, but officials released projections last week showing they see some cuts to rates coming in 2024.

Reports on Thursday painted a mixed picture of whether the Fed can indeed pull off the long-odds tightrope walk that everyone is hoping for: a slowdown in the economy powerful enough to conquer high inflation but not so strong that it causes a recession.

One report showed that slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, but the number was still below expectations and low relative to history. The hope at the Fed and on Wall Street is that the job market can cool by just the right amount so that it doesn’t cause mass layoffs but also doesn’t add upward pressure on inflation.

Another report showed manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region is weakening by more than expected. Manufacturing has been one of the hardest-hit areas of the economy. And a third report said the U.S. economy’s growth during the summer wasn’t quite as powerful as earlier estimated.

They “weren’t earth-shattering numbers, but they were still in line with the narrative that a cooling economy will keep the Fed on track to cut rates in the not-too-distant future,” according to Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.

“Right or wrong, that sentiment has played a big role in the market’s recent surge, even though the Fed has been doing its best to temper expectations.”

Wall Street has been ebullient about the possibilities for a slew of rate cuts and a resilient economy in 2024, which would both help buoy stock prices. The S&P 500 has charged 15% higher in roughly two months on anticipation for those twin supports, and the index is on track for an eighth straight week of gains.

That’s despite Fed officials having penciled in far fewer rate cuts for 2024 than Wall Street. Critics say the number of rate cuts traders are expecting is unlikely unless the economy falls into a recession, which some still see as an inevitable consequence of all the rate hikes already instituted by the Federal Reserve.

That’s raised criticism that stocks have gone too far, too fast and become too expensive relative to profits that companies are earning. Even before Wednesday’s 1.5% drop for the S&P 500, several strategists on Wall Street were forecasting at least a pause in the rally in the short term.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 48.40 points to claw back more than two thirds of that loss and closed at 4,746.75. The Dow gained 322.35 to 37,404.35, and the Nasdaq jumped 185.92 to 14,963.87.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mostly lower in Europe and Asia. China was an exception, with stocks ticking 0.6% higher in Shanghai to trim its loss for the year by a bit. It’s one of the few markets globally that has not climbed sharply in 2023 amid hopes for easing inflation.

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The S&P 500 slumped 1.5% for its worst loss since beginning a monster-sized rally shortly before Halloween. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 475 points, or 1.3%, from its record high, while the Nasdaq composite sank 1.5%

FedEx tumbled 12.1% for one of the market’s biggest losses after reporting weaker revenue and profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also now expects its revenue for its full fiscal year to fall from year-earlier levels, rather than being roughly flat, because of pressures on demand.

The package delivery company pumps commerce around the world, and its signal for potentially weaker demand could dim the hope that’s fueled Wall Street’s recent rally: that the Federal Reserve can pull off a perfect landing for the economy by slowing it enough to stifle high inflation but not so much that it causes a recession.

Winnebago Industries also fell short of analysts’ profit expectations for the latest quarter. The maker of motorhomes and other recreational products said it sold fewer units than a year earlier because of “market conditions” and had to offer higher discounts. Its stock dropped 5.6%.

General Mills, which sells Progresso soup and Yoplait yogurt, reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected, but its revenue fell short as a recovery in its sales volume was slower than expected. The company said a key sales measure may now fall for its full fiscal year because of “a more cautious consumer economic outlook” and other factors. Its stock fell 3.6%.

Still, a pair of reports showed the U.S. economy may be in stronger overall shape than expected. Both confidence among consumers in December and sales of previously occupied homes in November improved more than economists had expected.

Encouraging signs that inflation is cooling globally also continue to pile up. In the United Kingdom, inflation in November unexpectedly slowed to 3.9% from October’s 4.6% rate, reaching its lowest level since 2021.

Easing rises in prices are raising hopes that central banks around the world can pivot in 2024 from their campaigns to hike interest rates sharply, which were meant to get inflation under control. For the Federal Reserve in particular, the general expectation is for its main interest rate to fall by at least 1.50 percentage points in 2024 from its current range of 5.25% to 5.50%, which is its highest level in more than two decades.

Treasury yields have been tumbling since late October on such hopes, and they fell again following the U.K. inflation report.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 3.85% from 3.93% late Tuesday. It had been above 5% in October, at its highest level since 2007 and putting harsh downward pressure on the stock market.

Lower interest rates and yields not only help the economy grow by making borrowing less expensive, they also boost prices for investments and relax the pressure on the overall financial system. That has helped the S&P 500 to climb back within 2% of its record set nearly two years ago. Wall Street’s main benchmark index also just came off its seventh straight week of gains, its longest such streak in six years.

“The market pendulum has swung from extreme pessimism less than two months ago to extreme optimism,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide.

The strength and length of that rally raised criticism that stocks have simply rallied too much, with several strategists on Wall Street forecasting at least a pause in the short term.

It’s still not certain whether the Fed can pull off what was seen as a nearly impossible tightrope walk for the economy. And critics say the number of cuts to rates that Wall Street is forecasting for 2024 seems unlikely unless the economy falls into a recession, which would hurt corporate profits and thus stock prices.

Some officials from the Federal Reserve have also made recent comments saying it’s too early to consider a cut to rates in March, which is when traders largely expect them to begin, according to data from CME Group.

Wednesday’s losses in the stock market were widespread, and roughly 95% of companies within the S&P 500 dropped. All told, the S&P 500 fell 70.02 points to 4,698.35. The Dow dropped 475.92 to 37,082.00, and the Nasdaq sank 225.28 to 14,777.94.

In stock markets abroad, the FTSE 100 in London rose 1% following the encouraging U.K. inflation report. Indexes also rose across much of Asia, but stocks fell 1% in Shanghai after China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged at the monthly fixing on Wednesday.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Alex Veiga contributed to this report.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and is just 0.6% shy of its record set nearly two years ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 251 points, or 0.7%, and set its own record for a fifth straight day, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.7%.

Enphase Energy jumped 9.1% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the maker of microinverters for the solar industry told employees it will cut 10% of its global workforce and make other streamlining changes. Stocks of oil-and-gas companies also pushed the market higher after crude prices recovered some of their sharp drops from recent months.

Around the world, stocks were mixed in mostly quiet trading. Japan was an exception, and the Nikkei 225 jumped 1.4% after the Bank of Japan decided to keep its benchmark interest rate below zero and hold other policies steady in hopes of encouraging more borrowing and spending.

The S&P 500 has rallied more than 15% since late October on hopes that a similar, easier approach to interest rates may soon be arriving on Wall Street.

With inflation down from its peak two summers ago and the economy still growing, the rising expectation is for the Federal Reserve in 2024 to pivot away from its campaign to hike interest rates dramatically.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell seemed to give a nod toward such hopes last week when he did not push forcefully against traders’ expectations for several cuts to rates next year. Wall Street loves lower rates because they give investment prices a boost and relax the pressure on the economy and the financial system.

The hope is the Fed can pull off what was earlier seen as a nearly impossible tightrope walk, by first getting inflation under control through high interest rates and then cutting rates before they push the economy into a recession.

A report on Tuesday showed the housing industry appears to be in stronger shape than expected. Homebuilders broke ground on many more homes in November than expected, roughly 200,000 more at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate.

Of course, Wall Street’s big recent moves also have critics saying the rally looks overdone and that stocks now appear expensive relative to how much profit companies are making. More cautious investors also say the number of rate cuts traders have penciled in for 2024 looks unlikely unless the U.S. economy falls into a recession.

Some Fed officials have been sounding more cautious about the prospect for rate cuts since Powell’s comments last week. On Friday, for example, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said it was “premature to be even thinking” about whether to cut rates in March.

Markets have nevertheless been ebullient, with the S&P 500 coming off its seventh straight winning week for its longest such streak in six years.

Showing how ravenous investors have become, clients at Bank of America poured $6.4 billion more into U.S. stocks last week than they withdrew. It’s the fourth-largest such inflow since the bank began tracking the data in 2008, strategist Jill Carey Hall said in a BofA Global Research report.

To Lori Calvasina, head of U.S. equity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, the S&P 500 still looks reasonably valued given moderating inflation. But she also says the risk of a “short-term pause” for the market is rising given how much fervor has built up, with one survey of investor optimism well above its long-term-average, among other potential signals of caution.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 3.92% from 3.94% late Monday. It was above 5% in October, at its highest level since 2007 and putting tremendous downward pressure on the stock market.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, shares of Tylenol maker Kenvue rose 2.2% following a favorable ruling for it in federal court. The company wanted to exclude the opinions of experts in a multijurisdictional against it on whether in-utero exposure to acetaminophen, the pain reliever used in Tylenol, could lead to autism or attention deficit disorder.

Judge Denise Cote of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York agreed with Kenvue, ruling Monday that the testimony was inadmissible.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 27.81 points to 4,768.37. The Dow gained 251.90 to 37,557.92, and the Nasdaq climbed 98.03 to 15,003.22.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq composite picked up 0.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished essentially flat after most of a 0.2% gain faded by late afternoon.

Retailers and big technology companies were among the big gainers. Amazon.com rose 2.7% and Etsy climbed 4.7% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks.

Chipmaker Nvidia rose 2.4%, while Meta added 2.9% and Netflix closed 3% higher.

Energy companies also rallied as the price of crude oil jumped amid growing concerns about attacks from Iranian-backed Houthis on shipping in the Red Sea. Oil and natural gas giant BP has joined the growing list of companies that have halted shipments in the major trade route.

Valero Energy rose 2.6% and Marathon Petroleum added 2.3%.

U.S. Steel soared 26.1% after agreeing to be acquired by Japan’s Nippon Steel. The Pittsburgh steel maker played a key role in the nation’s industrialization. The all-cash deal is valued at about $14.1 billion, or $14.9 billion with debt. That’s nearly double what was offered just four months ago by rival Cleveland Cliffs.

Investors had several other corporate buyout updates to review. Photoshop maker Adobe rose 2.5% following an announcement that it is terminating its planned $20 billion buyout of Figma. Door maker Masonite International fell 16% after saying it will by PGT Innovations in a deal worth about $13 billion.

Treasury yields mostly rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.95% from 3.92% late Friday.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 21.37 points to 4,740.56. The Dow edged up 0.86 points to 37,306.02, and the Nasdaq gained 90.89 points to 14,904.81.

Markets in Europe finished mostly lower, while markets in Asia closed lower.

The broader market surged last week and added to solid December gains after the Federal Reserve signaled that inflation may have cooled enough for the central bank to shift to cutting interest rates in 2024. The Dow closed out last week with a record, while the S&P 500 ended the week with its longest weekly winning streak in six years, while edging closer to its all-time high.

The benchmark S&P 500 is now up more than 23% this year, while the Nasdaq is up more than 42%.

“The winning streak, plus the fact that the Fed has pivoted as inflation continues to fall, has kicked off kind of a momentum burst,” said Michael Antonelli, market strategist at Baird. “At the end of last week, you had 70% of the S&P 500 above its 20-day moving average. That’s almost three quarters of the index rallying over the short run.”

Lower interest rates typically take pressure off of financial markets. The Fed’s goal since 2022 has been to slow the economy and grind down prices for investments enough through high interest rates to get inflation under control. Economic growth has slowed, but has not dipped into recession, while inflation continues easing.

Wall Street is betting that those conditions mean the Fed is done raising interest rates and could start cutting them in early 2024. Investors will get their last big inflation update of the year on Friday when the government releases its report on personal consumption expenditures. It’s the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation and has been easing since the middle of 2022.

Analysts polled by FactSet expect the measure of inflation to soften to 2.8% in November from 3% in October. It was as high as 7.1% in June of 2022.

Investors will also have a few big earnings reports to review this week, which could give them a better sense of how companies and consumers are faring amid high interest rates and lingering inflation. Package delivery service FedEx will report its latest financial results on Tuesday and Cheerios maker General Mills will report its results on Wednesday. Athletic footwear giant Nike will report its latest results on Thursday.

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The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% to sit just 3.2% below its all-time high set at the start of last year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 173 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.7%.

Big Tech stocks helped lead the way following solid gains for Nvidia, Meta Platforms and some other of Wall Street’s largest and most influential stocks. They overshadowed a 12.4% tumble for Oracle, whose revenue for the latest quarter fell short of analysts’ forecasts.

But Wall Street’s spotlight was on the inflation report, which showed U.S. consumers paid prices for gasoline, food and other living costs last month that were 3.1% higher overall than a year earlier. That was a slight deceleration from October’s 3.2% inflation and exactly in line with economists’ expectations.

The data likely changes nothing about what the Federal Reserve will do at its latest meeting on interest rates, which ends Wednesday. The widespread expectation is still for the Fed to keep its main interest rate steady.

The Fed has already yanked its main interest rate from virtually zero early last year to more than 5.25%, its highest level since 2001. It’s hoping to slow the economy and hurt investment prices by exactly the right amount: enough to stamp out high inflation but not so much that it causes a steep recession.

Recently rising hopes that the Fed can manage such an “immaculate” landing for the economy have helped stocks to rally and bets to rise that the Fed’s next move on interest rates will be to cut sometime in 2024, perhaps as early as March.

Cuts to interest rates can juice prices for stocks and other investments, while offering more oxygen for the overall economy and financial system.

Following the inflation report, traders were betting on a nearly 42% chance that the Fed will cut rates by March, according to data from CME Group. But a minority are also still betting on the possibility that rates could stay high for longer than expected.

Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, pointed to a slight acceleration in inflation when looking at how prices changed from October into November rather than from a year earlier.

“Simply put,” she said, “this isn’t enough inflation deceleration to reassert or justify the market’s policy easing expectations,” particularly when the job market remains solid.

Other analysts and investors said they expect Fed Chair Jerome Powell to use the numbers to try in his press conference on Wednesday to push against traders’ conviction that rate cuts will come in the early part of 2024. Powell himself has already recently said it’s too early to consider when cuts could arrive.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed following the inflation data. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.20% from 4.24% late Monday.

The two-year yield, which moves more on expectations for action from the Fed, held steady at 4.71%.

On Wall Street, Choice Hotels International fell 1.9% after it said it’s taking its buyout offer for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts directly to its rival’s shareholders. Choice already owns 1.5 million shares of Wyndham, whose board has cited concerns about value and regulatory approval while rebuffing Choice in the past.

Toymaker Hasbro slipped 1.1% after it announced additional job cuts as part of its cost-cutting program.

On the winning side of Wall Street, Centene rose 2.8% for one of the bigger gains in the S&P 500. The managed care company gave a forecast for earnings in 2024 that topped analysts’ expectations, and it also authorized a program to buy back up to $4 billion more of its stock.

Icosavax soared 49.5% after AstraZeneca said it would buy the biopharmaceutical company for at least $838 million in cash, with the price tag rising if certain milestones are met.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 21.26 to 4,643.70. The Dow added 173.01 to 36,577.94, and the Nasdaq gained 100.91 to 14,533.40.

In stock markets abroad, indexes held relatively steady in Europe and mostly rose in Asia.

The FTSE 100 in London was virtually unchanged after the Office for National Statistics reported a sharp slowdown in growth for wages. That could help weigh on inflation and shape the Bank of England’s upcoming decision on interest rates Thursday.

Crude oil prices fell to take some more pressure off inflation. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude lost $2.71 to settle at $68.61. It had been above $93 in September but has been coming down amid worries about demand from the global economy failing to keep up with available supplies.

Brent crude, the international standard, fell $2.79 to $73.24 per barrel.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.4% after drifting between small gains and losses in the early going. The benchmark index finished at its highest level in 20 months.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average also added 0.4%, while the Nasdaq composite finished 0.2% higher.

The gains were broad among S&P 500 stocks, with technology, financial and health care among the big winners. Communications services stocks were the only laggard.

Cigna surged 16.7% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks after the health insurer announced a $10 billion stock buyback, and the Wall Street Journal reported that the company is no longer pursuing a merger with Humana.

Macy’s jumped 19.4% following reports that an investor group is launching a bid to take the storied retailer private for $5.8 billion.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 18.07 points to 4,622.44. The Dow gained 157.06 points to 36,404.93 and the Nasdaq added 28.51 points to close at 14,432.49.

The latest gains, while muted, follow a six-week winning streak by the major stock indexes. The S&P 500 is up 20.4% for the year and the Nasdaq is up 37.9%.

Wall Street’s big focus this week will be updates on inflation at the consumer and wholesale levels, along with the Fed’s latest update on its interest rate policy.

On Tuesday, the government will release its November report on consumer inflation. Analysts expect the report to show that inflation continued slowing to 3.1% from 3.2% in October. On Wednesday, the government will release its November report on inflation at the wholesale level, which is also expected to show that the rate of inflation is easing.

The inflation data comes ahead of the Fed’s latest statement on interest rates Wednesday afternoon. The central bank is expected to hold its benchmark rate steady for a third consecutive time after spending much of 2022 and a large portion of 2023 aggressively raising rates to their highest levels in two decades.

Wall Street is overwhelmingly betting that the Fed will keep its benchmark interest rate at a range of 5.25% to 5.50% into early 2024 and could start cutting rates by the middle of that year. Analysts are also becoming more comfortable with the possibility that the central bank can pull off a “soft landing,” which refers to inflation easing under high interest rates without the economy falling into a recession.

“With inflation coming down faster than expected, it now appears likely that the Fed will refrain from additional rate hikes,” said Brian Rose, senior U.S. economist at UBS, in a note to investors. “At the same time, inflation is still too high and the labor market is still too tight for the Fed to consider cutting rates soon.”

Strong consumer spending and a solid jobs market have provided a bulwark to the broader economy, where growth has slowed but has so far avoided stalling. The government’s jobs report on Friday showed that U.S. employers added more jobs last month than economists expected. Workers’ wages also rose more than expected, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly improved.

The latest round of corporate earnings is mostly behind Wall Street and proved to be surprisingly good. Companies in the S&P 500 reported earnings growth of just under 5% during the third quarter, according to FactSet. That follows three straight quarters of earnings contractions.

Several big companies will report their earnings this week and are among the few remaining to release their results. Software company Adobe will report on Wednesday and Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants will release its results on Friday.

Treasury yields were little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 4.23%.

Crude oil prices were stable.

Markets in Asia closed mostly higher, while markets in Europe ended mixed.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, enough to clinch a sixth straight winning week for the index, which is its longest such streak in four years. Wall Street’s main measure of health is now just 4% below its record set at the start of last year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 130 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.4%.

Yields rose more sharply in the bond market following the report, which said U.S. employers added more jobs last month than economists expected. Workers’ wages also rose more than expected, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly improved.

The strong data keep at bay worries about a possible recession, at least for a while longer, and stocks of some companies whose profits are closely tied to the strength of the economy rallied. Energy-related stocks had the biggest gain of the 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500, rising 1.1% as oil prices strengthened amid hopes for more demand for fuel.

Carrier Global climbed 4.5% for one of the market’s bigger gains after it said it agreed to sell its security business, Global Access Solutions, to Honeywell for $4.95 billion.

But the worry on Wall Street is that the remarkably resilient job market could also end up giving inflation more fuel. That could push the Federal Reserve to either raise its main interest rate further or at least keep it at its highest level since 2001 for longer than expected.

That in turn could dilute the central hope driving the stock market recently: Inflation has come down enough from its peak two summers ago for the Fed to finally halt its hikes to interest rates and begin cutting them next year.

“The Fed is so afraid of ‘giving up before the job is done’ that it will err on the side of overdoing it,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.

Overall, the job data looked decent, Bank of America economists said in a BofA Global Research report. They said the numbers back up their expectation “that economic activity will slow, not crash.”

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.22% from 4.15% late Thursday. It had been on a general decline and relaxing the pressure on stocks since topping 5% in October, when it reached its highest level since 2007.

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely follows expectations for the Fed, rose to 4.72% from 4.60% as traders pulled back on bets for how many times the Fed could cut rates in 2024.

High rates and yields hurt all kinds of investments, and they pack a particularly hard punch on stocks seen as the most expensive or requiring their investors to wait a long time for big growth.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, slipped 1.4% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. A day earlier, it had leaped amid excitement about the launch of its latest artificial-intelligence offering. Other Big Tech stocks were stronger, with Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft all rising.

Also on the losing end was RH. The home furnishings company slumped 14% after reporting weaker results for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 18.78 points to 4,604.37. The Dow added 130.49 to 36,247.87, and the Nasdaq climbed 63.98 to 14,403.97.

Friday’s jobs report is one of the last major pieces of data the Fed will get before it announces its next move on interest rates Wednesday. On Tuesday, the U.S. government will give the latest monthly update on how high inflation is for U.S. consumers.

The widespread expectation is still for the Fed to hold its main interest rate steady next week, according to data from CME Group. But traders are now betting on less than a 46% chance the Fed will have cut rates by March. That’s down from nearly 65% a day earlier.

A separate preliminary report on Friday offered more encouragement. It said that U.S. consumers’ expectations for inflation in the coming year dropped to 3.1% from 4.5% a month earlier, the lowest since March 2021. The Fed has said it pays attention to such expectations, fearing a rise could lead to a vicious cycle that keeps inflation high.

The preliminary report from the University of Michigan also said sentiment among consumers strengthened enough to erase all its declines from the prior four months, mainly because of improved expectations for inflation.

In the oil market, crude prices rose to recover some of their sharp losses in recent months. A barrel of benchmark U.S. oil gained $1.89 to settle at $71.23, though it’s still more than $20 below where it was in September. It’s been tumbling on worries that demand from the global economy won’t be strong enough to absorb all the world’s available supplies.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.79 to $75.84 per barrel.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mostly higher in Europe and mixed in Asia. The Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.7% for a second straight drop amid speculation about whether the Bank of Japan will ease off its ultra-easy policy on interest rates.

AP Business Writer Zimo Zhong contributed.

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The S&P 500 climbed 36.25 points, or 0.8%, to 4,585.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 62.95, or 0.2%, to 36,117.38, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 193.28, or 1.4%, to 14,339.99.

Big Tech stocks helped power the market higher, led by a 5.3% leap for Google’s parent company, Alphabet. They’re Wall Street’s most influential stocks because of their massive size, and they have been on huge tears so far this year.

Cerevel Therapeutics also jumped 11.4% after AbbVie announced an $8.7 billion deal to buy the company and its pipeline of candidates for schizophrenia, Parkinson’s and other diseases. AbbVie added 1.1%.

Wall Street has rallied toward its best level since March 2022 largely on hopes that the Federal Reserve is finally done with its barrage of hikes to interest rates, which are meant to get high inflation under control. That has anticipation high ahead of a report on Friday, the U.S. government’s latest monthly update on the job market.

The Federal Reserve wants to see the job market slow by just the right amount. Too much weakness would mean people out of work and a possible recession, but too much strength could add upward pressure on inflation.

So far, anticipation is rising that the Federal Reserve can nail a perfect landing for the job market and overall economy. Inflation has been slowing since peaking two summers ago, and expectations are building that the Fed’s next move will be to cut interest rates next year.

A report on Thursday said that slightly more U.S workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, though the number is not alarmingly high and hit economists’ expectations exactly. That had both stock and bond markets relatively calm and waiting for Friday’s report, which could be more impactful.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.14% from 4.12% late Wednesday. It’s been generally easing since topping 5% in October and hitting its highest level since 2007.

The drop in the 10-year yield over the last month, including after accounting for inflation, is one of the reasons strategists at Goldman Sachs say the S&P 500 looks like it’s trading “roughly in line with fair value,” even after its nearly 9% rip higher through November. Expectations for a healthy economy have also helped boost stocks.

But the path ahead could travel down one of several forks, depending in part on how quickly inflation cools and whether the Fed does cut rates by as much as traders are expecting. Goldman Sachs says traders “are approaching the limits of what could plausibly” be expected for rate cuts without a recession hitting in the near term.

“We believe much of the optimistic scenario is already reflected in US equity prices today,” the strategists led by Ryan Hammond wrote in a report.

Since the Federal Reserve began its campaign early last year to drastically ramp up interest rates, traders have several times built up bets for an imminent halt to rate hikes and for potential cuts, only to be disappointed each time. While Federal Reserve officials have hinted recently their main interest rate may indeed be at a peak, some have said it’s too early to begin considering when cuts could come.

Hopes for easier rates help all kinds of investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive or promising big growth the furthest in the future. That’s helped send Big Tech stocks to their huge gains this year.

Alphabet’s jump on Thursday brought its gain for the year so far to just over 55%. A day earlier, it announced the launch of its Gemini artificial intelligence model. The announcement made few waves on Wall Street initially, and Alphabet’s stock slipped Wednesday, but analysts at JPMorgan said in a report they “are encouraged to see Google’s progress on this major technology shift.”

Alphabet was the single strongest force pushing the S&P 500 upward, but Apple, Amazon and Nvidia all also rose at least 1%.

Another winner was JetBlue Airways, which climbed 15.2% after it said it may report better results for the final three months of the year than it earlier expected. It also slightly lowered the top end of its forecast for fuel costs during the end of 2023.

Crude oil prices have been falling recently amid worries about demand from the global economy falling short of available supplies. The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude slipped another 4 cents to settle at $69.34. It was above $93 in late September.

Brent crude, the international standard, fell 25 cents to $74.05 per barrel.

On the losing end of Wall Street, C3.ai tumbled 10.8% after reporting weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

In stock markets abroad, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.8% in Tokyo amid speculation about whether the Bank of Japan will ease off its ultra-easy policy on interest rates.

Losses for stock indexes elsewhere in Asia and Europe were more modest.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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The S&P 500 slipped 17.84, or 0.4%, to 4,549.34 for its third straight loss, locking in its longest losing streak since October. Each of those drops was modest, though, and the index remains near its best level in 20 months.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 70.13, or 0.2%, to 36,054.43, and the Nasdaq composite lost 83.20, or 0.6%, to 14,146.71.

Energy stocks had the market’s worst drops by far. Halliburton sank 3.6%, and Marathon Oil fell 3.5% after crude oil touched its lowest price since June.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude tumbled roughly 4% as expectations build that the world has too much oil available for the global economy’s demand. It sank below $70, down more than $20 since September. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.8% to $74.30 per barrel.

Losses for Big Tech stocks, which are some of Wall Street’s most influential, also weighed on the market. Nvidia dropped 2.3%, and Microsoft lost 1%.

Helping to limit the market’s losses was a gain of 1.9% for homebuilder Toll Brothers, which reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also said demand from buyers has remained solid so far in the current quarter, thanks in part to slightly easier rates available for mortgages.

Mortgage rates have regressed as Treasury yields have dropped on hopes that the Federal Reserve may finally be finished with its barrage of hikes to interest rates, meant to get high inflation under control. Wall Street is betting the Fed’s next move will be to cut rates, possibly as early as March, which would juice the economy and financial markets.

More reports arrived Wednesday that bolstered those hopes. The Federal Reserve’s next meeting on interest rates is in a week, and the widespread expectation is for it to leave its main interest rate alone at its highest level in more than two decades.

One report said private employers added fewer jobs last month than economists expected. While no one on Wall Street wants to see widespread layoffs, a cooldown in the job market could remove upward pressure on inflation.

A more comprehensive report on the job market from the U.S. government will arrive Friday, one that can cause big swings on Wall Street.

“What we don’t know is how much the markets have already priced in a slowing labor market, or how they will react if Friday’s data comes in stronger than anticipated,” said Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.

A separate report on Wednesday said U.S. businesses were able to increase the amount of stuff they produced in the summer by more than the total number of hours their employees worked. That stronger-than-expected gain in productivity more than offset increases to workers’ wages, and it could also keep a lid on inflationary pressures.

Treasury yields in the bond market were generally lower following the economic reports, and the 10-year yield fell to 4.11% from 4.17% late Tuesday. It was above 5% in October and at its highest level since 2007.

Within the S&P 500, Campbell Soup was the biggest winner and rose 7.1% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected.

Travel-related companies were also strong as falling crude prices relieved some pressure on them. Carnival rose 5.9%, and Royal Caribbean Line gained 3.4%.

Airlines also flew higher. Delta Air Lines climbed 3.5% after it told investors it’s sticking to its forecasts for revenue and profit for the end of 2023. United Airlines rose 3.4%, and Southwest Airlines gained 3%.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Brown-Forman, the company whose brands include Jack Daniel’s whiskey. It fell 10.4% after reporting weaker earnings than analysts had forecast. It also cut its forecast for a measure of sales growth for the full year.

Shares of British American Tobacco sank 8.4% in London after the company said it will take a non-cash hit worth roughly 25 billion British pounds ($31.39 billion) to account for a drop in the value of its “combustible” U.S. cigarette brands. It’s moving toward a “smokeless” world, such as e-cigarettes.

Shares of Altria Group, which sells Marlboro cigarettes in the United States, fell 2.8%.

Wall Street could be setting itself up for disappointment if cuts to rates do not come as quickly as hoped. While Federal Reserve officials have hinted that their main interest rate may indeed be at a peak, some have said it’s too early to begin considering when cuts could come.

Stock markets abroad were mostly higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2% after a top central bank official reiterated the Bank of Japan’s will keep its monetary policy easy until it achieves a stable level of inflation.

Gains were more modest across the rest of Asia and Europe.

AP Business W

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street ticked lower Wednesday after another sharp slide for the price of crude dragged down oil-and-gas stocks.

The S&P 500 slipped 17.84, or 0.4%, to 4,549.34 for its third straight loss, locking in its longest losing streak since October. Each of those drops was modest, though, and the index remains near its best level in 20 months.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 70.13, or 0.2%, to 36,054.43, and the Nasdaq composite lost 83.20, or 0.6%, to 14,146.71.

Energy stocks had the market’s worst drops by far. Halliburton sank 3.6%, and Marathon Oil fell 3.5% after crude oil touched its lowest price since June.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude tumbled roughly 4% as expectations build that the world has too much oil available for the global economy’s demand. It sank below $70, down more than $20 since September. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.8% to $74.30 per barrel.

Losses for Big Tech stocks, which are some of Wall Street’s most influential, also weighed on the market. Nvidia dropped 2.3%, and Microsoft lost 1%.

Helping to limit the market’s losses was a gain of 1.9% for homebuilder Toll Brothers, which reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also said demand from buyers has remained solid so far in the current quarter, thanks in part to slightly easier rates available for mortgages.

Mortgage rates have regressed as Treasury yields have dropped on hopes that the Federal Reserve may finally be finished with its barrage of hikes to interest rates, meant to get high inflation under control. Wall Street is betting the Fed’s next move will be to cut rates, possibly as early as March, which would juice the economy and financial markets.

More reports arrived Wednesday that bolstered those hopes. The Federal Reserve’s next meeting on interest rates is in a week, and the widespread expectation is for it to leave its main interest rate alone at its highest level in more than two decades.

One report said private employers added fewer jobs last month than economists expected. While no one on Wall Street wants to see widespread layoffs, a cooldown in the job market could remove upward pressure on inflation.

A more comprehensive report on the job market from the U.S. government will arrive Friday, one that can cause big swings on Wall Street.

“What we don’t know is how much the markets have already priced in a slowing labor market, or how they will react if Friday’s data comes in stronger than anticipated,” said Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.

A separate report on Wednesday said U.S. businesses were able to increase the amount of stuff they produced in the summer by more than the total number of hours their employees worked. That stronger-than-expected gain in productivity more than offset increases to workers’ wages, and it could also keep a lid on inflationary pressures.

Treasury yields in the bond market were generally lower following the economic reports, and the 10-year yield fell to 4.11% from 4.17% late Tuesday. It was above 5% in October and at its highest level since 2007.

Within the S&P 500, Campbell Soup was the biggest winner and rose 7.1% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected.

Travel-related companies were also strong as falling crude prices relieved some pressure on them. Carnival rose 5.9%, and Royal Caribbean Line gained 3.4%.

Airlines also flew higher. Delta Air Lines climbed 3.5% after it told investors it’s sticking to its forecasts for revenue and profit for the end of 2023. United Airlines rose 3.4%, and Southwest Airlines gained 3%.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Brown-Forman, the company whose brands include Jack Daniel’s whiskey. It fell 10.4% after reporting weaker earnings than analysts had forecast. It also cut its forecast for a measure of sales growth for the full year.

Shares of British American Tobacco sank 8.4% in London after the company said it will take a non-cash hit worth roughly 25 billion British pounds ($31.39 billion) to account for a drop in the value of its “combustible” U.S. cigarette brands. It’s moving toward a “smokeless” world, such as e-cigarettes.

Shares of Altria Group, which sells Marlboro cigarettes in the United States, fell 2.8%.

Wall Street could be setting itself up for disappointment if cuts to rates do not come as quickly as hoped. While Federal Reserve officials have hinted that their main interest rate may indeed be at a peak, some have said it’s too early to begin considering when cuts could come.

Stock markets abroad were mostly higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2% after a top central bank official reiterated the Bank of Japan’s will keep its monetary policy easy until it achieves a stable level of inflation.

Gains were more modest across the rest of Asia and Europe.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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The S&P 500 edged down by 2.60 points, or 0.1%, to 4,567.18 for its first back-to-back loss since October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 79.88, or 0.2%, to 36,124.56, and the Nasdaq composite rose 44.42, or 0.3%, to 14,229.91.

Stocks were down more sharply in Asia amid worries about the health of China’s economy, the world’s second largest.

On Wall Street, KeyCorp fell 3.7% and led a slump for bank stocks after it cut its forecast for income from fees and other non-interest income. But gains of more than 2% for Apple and Nvidia, two of the market’s most influential stocks, helped to blunt the losses.

U.S. stocks and Treasury yields wavered after reports showed that employers advertised far fewer job openings at the end of October than expected, while growth for services businesses accelerated more last month than expected.

Hope has been rising on Wall Street recently that the U.S. economy is slowing from its recently hot pace by just the right amount. Too much strength would give inflation more fuel, but too little would mean a recession.

With inflation down from its peak two summers ago, Wall Street is hopeful the Federal Reserve may finally be done with its market-shaking hikes to interest rates and could soon turn to cutting rates. That could help the economy avoid a recession and give a boost to all kinds of investment prices.

Investors have been looking for a slowdown in the job market in particular. The hope is that it can cool more through employers cutting back on open positions than on employers laying off lots of workers. Tuesday’s report showed that employers advertised just 8.7 million jobs on the last day of October, down by 617,000 from a month earlier.

It’s the lowest level since 2021, and the “data support our view that rates are at a peak and the Fed’s next move will be a rate cut” in the spring of 2024, said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.

A separate report said that activity for U.S. services industries expanded for the 41st time in the last 42 months, with growth reported by everything from agriculture to wholesale trade. Strength there has been offsetting weakness in manufacturing.

In the bond market, Treasury yields continued to sag further from the heights they reached during late October.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.18% from 4.26% late Monday, offering more breathing space for stocks and other markets. It had been above 5% and at its highest level in more than a decade during October.

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, went on a jagged run following the economic reports. It fell from 4.61% just before the reports’ release to 4.57% and then yo-yoed before easing back to 4.57%.

Traders widely expect the Federal Reserve to hold its key interest rate steady at its next meeting next week, before potentially cutting rates in March, according to data from CME Group.

Fed officials have recently hinted that the federal funds rate may indeed already be at its peak. It’s above 5.25%, up from nearly zero early last year. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell and others have also warned Wall Street about being overzealous in its predictions about how early a cut could happen.

Lower yields have been one reason prices for cryptocurrencies have been rising recently. Excitement about a possible exchange-traded fund tied to bitcoin, which would open it to new kinds of investors, has also helped send it above $43,000 recently.

The surge of interest helped Robinhood Markets report a roughly 75% jump in trading volumes for crypto during November from a month earlier. It also said customers added about $1.4 billion in net deposits during the month, and its own stock rose 10.3%.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Take-Two Interactive, which slipped 0.5% after a trailer for its highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI video game said it’s coming in 2025. That was later than some analysts expected.

In markets abroad, stocks sank 1.9% in Hong Kong and 1.7% in Shanghai after the Moody’s credit-rating agency said it may downgrade China’s rating. Its economic growth is slowing and facing mounting troubles from its real-estate industry.

Stocks also fell in Japan and South Korea but were mixed across Europe.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

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The S&P 500 closed 0.5% lower. The benchmark index was coming off its best month in more than a year, and reached its highest level in more than a year on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%, while the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.8%.

Treasury yields rose broadly, putting some pressure on stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, climbed to 4.25% from 4.21% late Friday.

Technology and communication services companies were the biggest weights on the market. Microsoft fell 1.4%, Nvidia dropped 2.7%, Meta Platforms slid 1.5% and Netflix lost 2.5%.

Alaska Air Group slumped 14.2% after announcing it will buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal, including the assumption of debt, a tie-up that would test the Biden administration as it fights consolidation in the airline sector.

Spotify surged 7.5% after announcing its third round of layoffs this year. Uber gained 2.2% after the ride-hailing service was named to join the S&P 500 index.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 24.85 points to 4,569.78. The Dow dropped 41.06 points to 36,204.44, and the Nasdaq gave up 119.54 points to 14,185.49.

Markets ended mixed in Europe and Asia.

U.S. crude oil prices fell 1.4%. Oil prices have been slipping recently, helping ease pressure on inflation.

Wall Street is coming off a solid week and a strong November on hopes that inflation is easing enough to allow the Federal Reserve to stop raising interest rates. Investors are also hoping that the economy remains strong enough to avoid a recession.

Investors will get several key updates on the economy this week, including reports on the services sector and the jobs market.

The Institute for Supply Management will release its November report on the services sector on Tuesday. The sector is a key component in the U.S. economy and accounts for the majority of the nation’s jobs. The report could provide more insight into consumer spending and the jobs market.

Wall Street will get several reports this week that focus on the broader employment picture in the U.S. The government will release its October update on job openings on Tuesday and a weekly report on applications for unemployment benefits on Thursday.

Investors will be closely watching the government’s monthly jobs report for November, which is on Friday. Analysts polled by FactSet expect U.S. employers to have added 175,000 jobs last month. They forecast that the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.9%.

The labor market has remained strong in the U.S. even as the Fed has raised interest rates sharply in order to fight inflation by slowing the entire economy. Inflation has been falling since the middle of 2022. The central bank paused raising rates after its most recent increase in late July.

Wall Street expects rates to remain steady into early 2024, when the Fed could begin cutting interest rates back from their highest level in two decades. The Fed’s next decision on rates will follow the close of their next two-day meeting on Dec. 13.

“We’re expecting to have a quiet, or at least a consensus outcome, from the Federal Reserve meeting and therefore the trends that are in place are likely to have more likelihood to continue,” said Bill Northey, senior investment director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

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The benchmark index rose 0.6%, eclipsing its previous high for the year set in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.8% higher, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.6%. Gainers outnumbered decliners by roughly 6-to-1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The latest gains followed the market’s best month in more than a year. Growing expectations on Wall Street that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates a soon as early next year have put investors in a buying mood.

“A lot of investors now are accelerating when the Fed is likely to initiate its first cut to the end of the first quarter of 2024, rather than the the prior forecast of some time in the second quarter,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA.

Hope that the Federal Reserve is finally done raising interest rates in its fight to control inflation helped push markets steadily higher through much of November. Recent economic data supports that view.

On Thursday, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation showed a cooling last month. Inflation has been easing overall since the middle of 2022 when the Fed started aggressively raising its benchmark interest rate. That followed mostly encouraging updates on economic growth and consumer confidence that have raised hopes that the Fed will achieve its sought-after “soft landing,” which involves cooling the inflation without throwing the economy into a recession.

A government report on Friday showed that construction spending continued rising in October, topping economists’ forecasts for growth. Wall Street will get several updates next week on the job market, including the government’s closely watched monthly employment report for November.

Speaking at Spelman College in Atlanta on Friday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said “It would be premature to conclude with confidence” that the central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate high enough to fully defeat inflation. He added that it’s not the time to speculate on when the Fed will cut rates.

That didn’t dash Wall Street’s optimism of a Fed rate cut happening as soon as next spring. Investors see a nearly 56% chance of it happening in March, up from just a 21% chance a week ago, according to data from CME Group.

Treasury yields have been broadly falling amid sentiment that the Fed’s aggressive rate hike policy is finished and potentially heading for a reversal. The trend continued Friday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, fell to 4.21% from 4.34% late Thursday. It was as high as 5.00% in October.

The yield on the two-year Treasury fell to 4.55% from 4.70% late Thursday. Falling bond yields have helped relieve pressure on stocks, especially technology stocks.

Investors entered December on track to close out the year with solid gains. The S&P 500 is up 19.7% and the Nasdaq composite is up 36.7% in 2023. Smaller-company stocks have also recently turned higher for the year following the market’s recent rally. The Russell 2000 index is now up 5.8% for the year.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 26.83 points to 4,594.63, its highest level since March 30, 2022. The Dow added 294.61 points to close at 36,245.50. The Nasdaq gained 78.81 points to finish at 14,305.03.

European markets closed higher and Asian markets finished mostly lower.

Industrial stocks were among the biggest gainers Friday. Construction equipment maker Caterpillar rose 2.4% and railroad operator Union Pacific rose 2.7%.

Elsewhere in the market, computer maker Dell fell 5.2% after giving investors a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast. Beauty products retailer Ulta Beauty jumped 10.8% after reporting results that beat estimates.

Oil prices remained relatively steady. They have been broadly easing for several months, as have U.S. gasoline prices. That is helping to relieve pressure on American families and businesses from rising prices.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.4% after drifting between small gains and losses. The benchmark index rose 8.9% in November, its biggest monthly gain since July 2022.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.5%, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2%. Both indexes also posted solid gains for the month, finishing with gains of 8.8% and 10.7%, respectively.

The market marched steadily higher for much of November as investors grew hopeful that the Federal Reserve is finally done raising interest rates, which fight inflation by slowing the economy. Those hopes got more support with a report that the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation cooled last month.

November’s rally was also driven largely by the technology sector, where several companies with high values tend to disproportionately impact the market. Microsoft gained 12.1% for the month, while Nvidia rose 14.7%. Also, Treasury yields have generally been falling and easing pressure on stocks. High yields tend to make expensive stocks look less attractive to investors.

“The rally has been dramatic in its move,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial.

The momentum has stalled over the last week or so, which is the market’s way of dealing with an overbought scenario, she said, but it hardly suggests a deep sell-off ahead.

“What you want to see is that next leg up as we close the year,” she said. “November is a strong month for the market, but so is December.”

Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department said prices were unchanged from September to October, down from a 0.4% rise the previous month. Compared with a year ago, consumer prices rose 3% in October, below the 3.4% annual rate in September. That was the lowest year-over-year inflation rate in more than 2 1/2 years.

The Fed’s aggressive rate hike policy pushed its benchmark interest rate from near zero in 2022 to its highest level in two decades by the middle of 2023. The goal has been to tame inflation back to the Fed’s target rate of 2%.

Wall Street is betting that the central bank will continue to hold rates steady at its December meeting and into early 2024, when it could start considering cutting interest rates. Fed officials have hinted at those possibilities, while also saying any future moves will be based on economic data.

The latest data on economic growth and consumer confidence have also raised hopes that the Fed will achieve its sought-after “soft landing,” which involves cooling the inflation without throwing the economy into a recession. Meanwhile, the latest round of surprisingly encouraging corporate earnings gave investors more confidence that businesses and the economy can keep humming along.

Treasury yields gained ground Thursday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, rose to 4.34% from 4.26% late Wednesday.

Traders had their eye on companies reporting quarterly results.

Software company Salesforce jumped 9.4% after giving investors a strong profit forecast. Cloud-computing company Snowflake rose 7% after also giving Wall Street an encouraging financial forecast.

On the losing end, data storage company Pure Storage fell 12.2% after giving investors a disappointing revenue outlook.

Also Thursday, the Labor Department said slightly more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, but the overall number of people in the U.S. collecting benefits rose to its highest level in two years. The report shows that the labor market remains strong, but is showing signs of softening.

Oil prices have also been falling, as have gasoline prices in the U.S., relieving pressure on consumers. The price of U.S. crude oil fell 2.4% Thursday, despite the latest extension of OPEC’s production cuts.

In Europe, the latest data showed that inflation dropped more than expected to 2.4% in November, the lowest in more than two years. The new figure is close to the European Central Bank’s inflation target of 2% following a rapid series of interest rate hikes dating to summer 2022.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 17.22 points to 4,567.80 on Thursday. The Dow jumped 520.47 points to 35,950.89, with an assist from Salesforce, which reported better-than-expected results and raised its outlook. The Nasdaq composite dropped 32.27 points to 14,226.22.

Stocks in Asia and Europe closed mostly higher.

AP Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber and AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

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The S&P 500 closed 0.1% lower after having been up by 0.7% earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had been up 0.5% before finishing with a gain of just 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%.

Facebook parent company Meta fell 2%, Google’s parent company Alphabet gave up 1.6% and Microsoft dropped 1%.

Still, gainers outnumbered decliners by a nearly 2-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange.

Automakers were among the bright spots. General Motors surged 9.4% after the company announced a big stock buyback, raised its dividend and told investors it won’t have any trouble absorbing the costs of its new labor contract. The stock is still down 6.1% for the year, while the S&P 500 is up more than 18%.

GM and its rivals agreed to new contracts with the United Auto Workers and Canadian auto workers in late October following strikes that lasted more than a month.

Ford rose 2.1% and Jeep maker Stellantis rose 5.3%.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 4.31 points to 4,550.58, the Dow rose 13.44 points to 35,430.42, and the Nasdaq dropped 23.27 points to 14,258.49.

Stocks rose in Europe and were mixed in Asia.

Treasury yields fell, taking more pressure off of stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, slipped to 4.26% from 4.33%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury fell sharply to 4.66% from 4.75%.

Wall Street also received another encouraging economic update Wednesday. The U.S. economy grew at a brisk 5.2% annual pace from July through September, the government reported Wednesday, an upgrade from its previous estimate of 4.9%.

The revision helps give more credence to the argument that a recession was always unlikely in 2023, said Jamie Cox, managing partner for Harris Financial Group. Fears about a recession have been waning throughout the year amid strong economic reports.

“Below the surface though, you’re starting to see some cracks in the data,” he said. “Consumer spending having a negative impact on GDP is an unusual circumstance.”

Consumer spending, the lifeblood of the economy, rose at a 3.6% annual rate from July through September. That’s still healthy, but a downgrade from the previous estimate of 4%.

The report follows an encouraging survey on consumer confidence released Tuesday.

The broader economy has remained resilient partly because of strong consumer spending, despite lingering pressure from inflation. Wall Street will be closely watching retailers as they move through the important holiday shopping season. A record 200.4 million consumers shopped online and in stores over the holiday weekend, according to the National Retail Federation.

Sneaker and athletic apparel retailer Foot Locker rose 16.1% after reporting strong third-quarter earnings and giving investors an encouraging update on its financial forecast. Several other big retailers also gained ground. Nike rose 1.5% and Lululemon Athletica rose 2.5%.

Investors will get another key economic update on Thursday when the government releases its October data on the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation. Economists expect that measure to continue easing, as it has been since the middle of 2022. The Federal Reserve will meet again in December to update its interest rate policy.

Wall Street expects the Fed to keep its benchmark interest rate steady and is betting that it is finished hiking rates, which remain at their highest levels in two decades. The central bank has said it will base future rate decisions on the latest economic data, though recent statements from officials have boosted hopes that the most aggressive round of rate hikes is at an end.

Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors, signaled Tuesday that the central bank is likely finished raising rates and could cut rates as early as spring. Wall Street is betting that the Fed will start cutting rates by the middle of 2024.

Several stocks rallied Wednesday after delivering strong financial updates. NetApp jumped 14.6% after easily beating analysts’ forecasts for earnings in its latest quarter and raising its outlook for the year. TurboTax maker Intuit rose 2.2% and software maker Workday gained 11% following encouraging results and forecasts.

On the losing end was Spam maker Hormel foods, which fell 4.6% after giving investors a weak profit forecast.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas Sands slid 4.9% after Miriam Adelson, the casino operator’s controlling shareholder, sold some $2 billion in stock. The move came ahead of an announcement Wednesday that Adelson’s family have agreed to buy a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks NBA franchise, which is owned by Mark Cuban.

AP Economics Writer Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.

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The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% after hovering between small gains and losses. The benchmark index is on track to close out November with its strongest monthly gain of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq composite eked out a 0.3% gain.

Gains in technology stocks, retailers and other sectors helped temper declines elsewhere in the market. Microsoft rose 1.1%, Tesla climbed 4.5% and Best Buy rose 2.4%. GE Healthcare Technologies was among the biggest decliners, closing 4.2% lower.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 4.46 points to 4,554.89. The Dow added 83.51 points to close at 35,416.98, and the Nasdaq gained 40.73 points to 14,281.76.

Bond yields fell. The 10-year Treasury yield, which influences mortgage rates, slipped to 4.34% from 4.39% late Monday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which tracks expectations for Federal Reserve action, fell significantly, to 4.73% from 4.89% late Monday.

U.S. crude oil prices rose 2.1%.

Investors are closely watching several economic updates this week for more clues about how consumers feel and whether the rate of inflation is still easing. They are betting that the Fed will continue to hold its benchmark rate steady. That sentiment was reaffirmed Tuesday by Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors.

“I am increasingly confident that policy is currently well-positioned to slow the economy and get inflation back to 2%,” Waller said in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank.

The Fed will meet again in December to update its interest rate policy. The central bank had been raising rates to push the rate of inflation back down to 2% and has been closing in on that goal. Inflation has plunged from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022 to 3.2% in October.

Wall Street is also increasingly betting that the Fed could start cutting interest rates from their highest level in two decades by the middle of 2024.

The central bank has been working to lower rates while trying to avoid a recession in what is referred to as a “soft landing” for the economy. The latest economic data adds to hopes for that outcome.

Consumer confidence remains strong heading into the holiday shopping season. The Conference Board’s November consumer confidence survey released Tuesday topped analysts’ forecasts. Consumer spending accounts for around 70% of U.S. economic activity and it has remained a bulwark against slower economic growth.

“Signs of a resilient consumer keep a soft landing possibility in play,” said Ed Clissold, chief U.S. strategist at Ned Davis Research.

On Thursday the government releases its October data on the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation. Economists expect that measure to continue easing, as it has been since the middle of 2022. The loosening grip from inflation and a resilient economy have raised hopes that the Fed might finally be finished with raising its benchmark interest rate.

That has helped fuel a rally on Wall Street. The benchmark S&P 500 index is up 8.4% in November, on track for its biggest monthly gain of 2023. Every major index is headed for a solid November gain.

“The challenge has been that, related to bonds, stocks are fairly expensive,” Clissold said. “Now, with yields coming down, that’s no longer the case.”

Wall Street is mostly finished with the latest round of corporate earnings, though there are still several large companies on deck to report their most recent financial results. TurboTax parent company Intuit, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and tech company NetApp will all report their results after the closing bell.

AP Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber and AP Business Writer Matt Ott contributed to this report.

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The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%. The benchmark index was coming off a holiday-shortened week in the U.S. and its fourth straight winning week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also closed 0.2% lower, while the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.1%.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 8.91 points to 4,550.43. The Dow slipped 56.68 points to 35,333.47, and the Nasdaq lost 9.83 points to 14,241.02.

Health care, communication services and industrial stocks were among the biggest drags on the market. Eli Lilly & Co. fell 1.6%, Meta Platforms slid 1% and Union Pacific closed 2% lower.

Technology stocks and companies that rely on consumer spending were bright spots. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 1% and Amazon.com gained 0.7%.

Shopify climbed 4.4% after the cloud-based commerce company announced a Black Friday record for worldwide sales of $4.1 billion from its merchants.

In the bond market, Treasury yields fell broadly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences interest rates on mortgages and other loans, fell to 4.39% from 4.47% late Friday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury slid to 4.88% from 4.95%.

Stocks closed mostly lower in Asia and Europe.

Investors have grown cautiously optimistic that inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to put a definitive end to its aggressive interest rate hikes. Meanwhile, the broader economy has remained strong enough in the face of rising interest rates and inflation to avoid a recession.

Markets have been rallying on that sentiment and the S&P 500 remains on track to close out November as its best month of the year. Investors will get more updates on the economy this week to help either confirm or soften that sentiment.

On Tuesday the Conference Board issues its latest report on consumer confidence, which has remained solid throughout the year. Economists polled by FactSet expect another solid reading for the October report.

The price of U.S. crude oil fell 0.9% Monday, remaining mostly stable ahead of OPEC’s meeting on Thursday. The cartel has maintained tight supplies, though prices have been falling over the last month. Lower energy prices could further ease inflation’s squeeze on consumers and help fuel economic growth.

On Thursday, Wall Street will be closely watching the government’s October data on the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation. Economists expect that measure to continue easing, as it has been since the middle of 2022.

Investors have put the latest round of surprisingly good corporate earnings behind them, following several disappointing quarters. The main focus through the end of the year will be on the Fed and what it does next.

The Fed has been holding its benchmark interest rate steady at a range of 5.25% to 5.50% since its last quarter-point hike at its July meeting. Wall Street is betting that the rate will remain stable at the central bank’s December meeting and into early 2024, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

Investors are increasingly leaning toward the Fed cutting rates in the middle of 2024 and easing it off its highest level in two decades. The central bank, though, has said it will make upcoming decisions based on the latest economic reports in its ongoing effort to cool inflation without slowing economic growth to the point of causing a recession.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, with nearly all of its sectors notching gains on the final day of trading ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite each rose 0.5%.

All told, the S&P 500 added 18.43 points to 4,556.62. The Dow rose 184.74 points to 35,273.03, and the Nasdaq gained 65.88 points to 14,265.86.

Technology and communications services stocks accounted for a big share of the gains for the S&P 500. Microsoft rose 1.3% and Google parent Alphabet added 1.1%.

Energy stocks were the only laggard, slipping 0.1%. The price of U.S. crude oil fell 0.9% after OPEC said it would postpone its latest conference to next week. The oil cartel has been maintaining a tight market for crude oil with production cuts.

The drop in oil prices weighed on energy companies. Energy giant Exxon Mobil fell 0.4% and oilfield services company Halliburton dropped 0.8%.

The pullback in oil prices helped boost shares in airlines and other companies that stand to benefit from lower fuel costs. United Airlines rose 0.9% and American Airlines gained 1.5%. Cruise line operator Carnival rose 1.9%.

Nvidia fell 2.5%, despite handily beating analysts’ profit and revenue forecasts. The company continues to face pressure because of export restrictions to China. Nvidia’s stock has more than tripled this year amid booming demand for its chips in artificial intelligence applications.

Treasury yields were relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.41% from 4.40% late Tuesday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury slipped to 4.88% from 4.89% late Tuesday.

Stocks in Asia and Europe ended mostly mixed. Trading tapered off ahead of holidays in the U.S. and Japan, with few data releases to give markets direction. Markets will be closed in the U.S. on Thursday for Thanksgiving and will close early on Friday.

A consumer sentiment survey by the University of Michigan showed that confidence remains strong. Wall Street has been closely watching consumer spending and confidence reports for more clues on the economy’s path ahead.

“There’s a real sense out there that we’re making progress,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network. “Slowing, but growing is what the economy is doing.”

Forecasts for a potential recession have been pushed further out into 2024 while also being softened. The rate of inflation continues to ease, consumer spending remains solid and the economy is generally humming along. That has encouraged hopes, and bets, that the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates and could soon consider cutting rates.

Fed officials, though, have said the outlook for the economy remains uncertain and they’ll make upcoming decisions on rates based on incoming reports. The Fed will get another big update next week when the government releases its October report for a key inflation measure tracked by the central bank.

Meanwhile, investors had their eye on the latest round of corporate earnings.

Several well-known retailers reported their latest financial results. Department store operator Nordstrom fell 4.6% after trimming its profit forecast for the year. Clothing retailer Guess slumped 12.3% after cutting its financial forecast.

Tractor maker Deere, a bellwether for the agricultural industry, fell 3.1% after giving Wall Street a discouraging financial forecast and industry outlook.

Broadcom slipped 0.9% after announcing that it expects to complete its $69 billion deal to acquire VMWare on Wednesday after clearing all regulatory hurdles.

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The S&P 500 slipped 9.19 points, or 0.2%, to 4,538.19 for just its third loss in the last 17 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 62.75, or 0.2%, to 35,088.29, and the Nasdaq composite dipped 84.55, or 0.6%, to 14,199.98.

Retailers were mixed after several reported their earnings for the latest quarter and, more importantly, their forecasts for the upcoming holiday shopping season.

Lowe’s sank 3.1% despite reporting better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of Wall Street’s estimates, and it also cut its forecasts for revenue and profit over the full year. Sales for do-it-yourself projects have been lower than expected at the home improvement retailer.

Best Buy dipped 0.7% after likewise beating analysts’ expectations for profit in the latest quarter but falling short on revenue. Its CEO, Corie Barry, said demand from customers has been “more uneven and difficult to predict.”

Best Buy cut its forecast for revenue for the full year, along with some other financial measures.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Dick’s Sporting Goods, which rose 2.2%. It delivered stronger profit and revenue for the third quarter than analysts expected, as customers both bought more at each transaction and made more total purchases. The sporting goods retailer raised its forecasts for full-year results.

Retailers are closing out what’s been a mostly better-than-hoped earnings reporting season for the summer. Companies in the S&P 500 are on track to deliver their first year-over-year growth in earnings per share in a year, according to FactSet.

But it’s been interest rates that have been the much bigger factor moving the stock market recently. Stocks have jumped on rising hopes that inflation has cooled enough to make the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates a cut rather than a hike.

It would be a stark turnaround after the Fed rushed to yank its main interest rate to its highest level since 2001 from virtually zero early last year. The central bank is trying to slow the economy and hurt investment prices just enough with high interest rates to smother inflation without overdoing it and causing a painful recession.

Recent economic reports suggesting a slowdown in both inflation and the economic activity that could create more inflation have pushed traders to move up expectations for when the Fed could begin cutting rates. They see a nearly 30% chance of it happening in March and a 58% probability that it happens by May, according to data from CME Group.

Such expectations have caused Treasury yields in the bond market to tumble.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.41% from 4.42% late Monday. Just a few weeks ago, it was above 5%, at its highest level since 2007 and undercutting prices for stocks and other investments.

Of course, too strong a drop in Treasury yields and too big a rally in stock prices could give officials at the Federal Reserve pause. Such movements could give the economy more juice, which would put upward pressure on inflation, and could push the Fed toward hiking again.

But even the Fed officials who are generally most inclined to keep rates high have recently softened their tone some, according to economists at Deutsche Bank.

“Overall, these Fed communications reinforced our view that the likelihood of a December hike is very low and we have reached the end of hiking cycle,” said the economists led by Amy Yang.

Deutsche Bank expects the U.S. economy to fall into a mild recession early in 2024 and the Fed to begin cutting rates in June. The rest of Wall Street is split on whether a recession could occur as the job market and inflation slow under the weight of high rates and yields.

Fed officials themselves talked about how uncertain the outlook for the economy is at their last policy meeting three weeks ago.

Strong spending by U.S. households could keep the economy humming, but Fed officials said at the meeting that the potential for another U.S. government shutdown and resumption of student loan repayments could act as possible weights, according to minutes released Tuesday.

Officials said at the meeting that they’ll make upcoming decisions on rates based on what incoming reports say about inflation and the economy, and that “data arriving in coming months would help clarify” what’s a muddied outlook.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed and made mostly modest moves across Europe and Asia.

AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.

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The S&P 500 gained 33.36 points, or 0.7%, to 4,547.38, coming off its third straight winning week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 203.76, or 0.6%, to 33,151.04, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 159.05, or 1.1%, to 14,284.53.

Microsoft was the strongest force pushing the market higher, and it rose 2.1% after saying it’s bringing on Sam Altman for a new venture following his sudden dismissal as CEO of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. Microsoft said it will also continue its partnership with OpenAI, as fervor around artificial-intelligence technology and the huge profits it’s expected to create continue to dominate Wall Street.

Stocks broadly drifted higher through the day before they took a turn upward in the afternoon when yields fell in the bond market following an auction of Treasurys. Easing Treasury yields have been the main reason for a strong rally for stocks in recent weeks.

This upcoming week is relatively light on reports that could sway the hopes on Wall Street that have underpinned that drop in Treasury yields.

Wall Street is getting more convinced that inflation is cooling enough for the Federal Reserve to finally be done with its market-crunching hikes to interest rates. Not only that, traders are moving up their expectations for when the Fed could actually begin cutting interest rates.

Despite Fed officials saying they may keep rates high for a while to ensure high inflation is definitively beaten, traders are thinking the first cut to rates could happen by early summer or maybe even by March. Cuts to rates tend to act like steroids for financial markets and offer oxygen across the financial system.

The Thanksgiving holiday means the U.S. government will release its weekly update on jobless claims on Wednesday instead of the usual Thursday. Other than that, the release of the minutes from the Fed’s latest policy meeting on Tuesday and preliminary reports on U.S. business activity on Friday are among the highlights.

That could make Nvidia’s upcoming profit report on Tuesday the week’s highest-profile event.

Nvidia carries huge sway on the S&P 500 and other indexes because it’s swelled to become the fifth-most valuable U.S. stock. Much of that rise has been because of excitement around AI, and Nvidia’s report could offer clues on how much all the talk about AI is translating into actual sales.

Analysts expect Nvidia to say its earnings per more than quintupled from a year earlier and that its revenue soared to nearly $16.2 billion from less than $6 billion.

Nvidia has been one of the seven Big Tech stocks that have accounted for a disproportionate amount of the S&P 500’s gains this year. The “Magnificent Seven” stocks have returned 73% so far this year, versus just 6% for the other 493 companies, according to Goldman Sachs strategists.

While forecasts continue for them to deliver stronger growth, the strategists led by David Kostin warn “the risk/reward profile is not especially compelling given elevated expectations.”

Nvidia rose 2.3% before its report. Best Buy, Deere, HP and Lowe’s will also be giving their latest quarterly updates this week.

On the losing end of Wall Street Monday was Kohl’s. The retailer fell 2.7% after it said that Dave Alves left as its president and chief operating officer, less than nine months after naming him to the post.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were easing. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which is the centerpiece of the bond market, dipped to 4.42% from 4.44% late Friday.

The two-year yield, which moves more on expectations for Fed action, slipped to 4.89% from 4.90% late Friday.

In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index touched a 33-year high before falling later in trading to a dip of 0.6%.

Stock indexes were stronger elsewhere in Asia and mixed in Europe.

Crude oil prices rose to recover some of their sharp losses over the last couple months. A barrel of U.S. crude oil for delivery in December rose $1.71 to settle at $77.60, but it’s still well below its perch above $93 in late September.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.71 to $82.32 per barrel.

AP Writer Zimo Zhong contributed.

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The S&P 500 edged up by 5.78 points, or 0.1%, to 4,514.02 and is near its highest level in three months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up by 1.81, or less than 0.1%, to 34,947.28, and the Nasdaq composite gained 11.81, or 0.1%, to 14,125.48.

Several retailers made strong gains after reporting better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Gap surged 30.6% after reporting much higher profit than Wall Street had forecast, more than doubling its stock’s gain for the year so far. Ross Stores climbed 7.2% after reporting stronger profit and revenue than expected.

On the losing end was BJ’s Wholesale Club, which fell 4.8% despite also reporting better results than expected. Analysts pointed to an underlying sales figure that strips out the boost from store openings, which fell short of expectations.

Retailers are closing out what’s been a better-than-hoped earnings reporting season for the summer. Companies in the S&P 500 are on track to report their first overall growth in a year, according to FactSet.

But the much more impactful factor driving stocks higher this week was hope that inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to finally be done with its market-crunching hikes to interest rates.

The Fed has already raised its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001, trying to slow the economy and dent financial markets just enough to get inflation under control without causing a painful recession.

A report on Tuesday showing inflation at the consumer level cooled more than expected last month ignited hopes that the Fed could pull off the delicate balancing act. Subsequent readings fanned the hopes higher after suggesting inflation and the overall economy may be slowing.

Now traders are trying to bet on when the Fed could actually begin cutting interest rates, something that can juice prices for investments and provide oxygen for the financial system. The Fed has said that it plans to keep rates high for a while to ensure that the battle against inflation is definitively won, but traders are thinking cuts could begin early in the summer of 2024.

One source of potential worry about inflation has been receding in recent weeks. Oil prices have plunged amid worries about a mismatch between too much crude supply and too little demand.

A barrel of U.S. crude for December delivery rose $2.99 to settle at $75.89 Friday to recover some of its sharp losses from earlier in the week. But it’s still well below its perch above $93 in late September.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose $3.19 to $80.61 per barrel Friday.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 4.43% from 4.44% late Thursday. Just a few weeks ago, it was above 5%, at its highest level since 2007 and undercutting prices for stocks and other investments.

Of course, too steep a drop in Treasury yields and too big a rally in stock prices could end up conspiring to work against Wall Street. Chair Jerome Powell said after the Fed’s last meeting on interest rates that it may not hike any more if the summer’s jump in Treasury yields and fall in stock prices remained “persistent.” That’s because such pressures could act like substitutes for more rate increases on their own.

Since then, yields have eased sharply, and November is on track to be the best month for the S&P 500 in a year. It all means financial conditions have unwound a bit over half of the tightening seen in October, according to economists at Deutsche Bank.

Still, recent reports on inflation and the economy have been so encouraging that “the Fed can afford to be less concerned with this easing,” according to Justin Weidner and the other economists.

In stock markets abroad, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 2.1%. Shares of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba plunged following its cancellation of a plan to spin off its cloud computing unit. The company cited uncertainties due to U.S. chip restrictions.

Stock indexes were mixed elsewhere in Asia while rising more strongly in Europe.

AP Writers Zimo Zhong and Matt Ott contributed.

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The S&P 500 edged up by 5.36 points, or 0.1%, to 4,508.24 and remains comfortably on track for its third straight winning week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 45.74, or 0.1%, to 34,945.47, and the Nasdaq composite gained 9.84, or 0.1%, to 14,113.67.

Walmart weighed on the market with an 8.1% drop after it warned that shoppers began pulling back on spending late last month. The nation’s largest retailer also gave a forecast for upcoming holiday profit that was weaker than analysts expected, despite topping forecasts for results in its latest quarter.

Cisco Systems tumbled 9.8% even though it also reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts estimated. The company saw a slowdown of new product orders last quarter, and it gave forecasts for earnings this upcoming quarter and fiscal year that were weaker than analysts expected.

Stocks in the oil-and-gas industry were particularly weak after the price of crude tumbled sharply to its lowest since July. Marathon Petroleum dropped 3.5%, and Halliburton fell 3.3%.

November nevertheless remains on track to be the S&P 500’s best month in a year on rising hopes for a “Goldilocks” economy that’s just right for markets.

Investors are betting inflation is cooling enough to convince the Federal Reserve to halt its hikes to interest rates following its fusillade since last year. That in turn has pushed expectations up for when the Fed could begin cutting rates, which can act like steroids for financial markets.

Several more reports on Thursday indicated a slowing economy. While the weaker-than-expected data are of course a signal the economy may be losing some of its strong momentum, for investors, they just as importantly may be showing that upward pressures on inflation is easing.

One report said that slightly more workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. The number is still low relative to history, but a softening in the job market could prevent the too-strong raises in workers’ pay that the Fed fears could trigger a vicious cycle keeping inflation high.

Separate reports said that manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region is unexpectedly weakening, while U.S. industrial production weakened more than expected in October.

The Fed has been trying to shepherd the economy along a tightrope, to slow just enough to stamp out high inflation without falling into a recession. Thursday’s weaker-than-expected reports strengthened investors’ hopes that the Fed can pull it off and go easier on interest rates. That triggered an immediate drop in Treasury yields.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.44% from 4.54% late Wednesday. Just last month, it was above 5% at its highest level since 2007 and raising worries on Wall Street as it undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

Lower yields offer more breathing space for financial markets, and 45% of the stocks in the S&P 500 rose.

Macy’s jumped 5.7% after delivering a surprising profit for the latest quarter. Sonos leaped 17.1% on speculation that it may start selling headphones in the second half of its fiscal year, which could be a meaningful new business.

Some economists and analysts are warning that investors have become overzealous in predicting when the Fed could begin cutting rates. Even if the Fed is done hiking its main interest rate, officials at the central bank have said they’ll likely keep it high for a while to ensure inflation is truly stamped out. The federal funds rate is above 5.25% and at its highest level since 2001.

A slowing economy would also mean softer growth in demand for fuel, and worries are already high about swelling inventories for crude oil. That sent crude oil prices skidding sharply.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude for delivery in December tumbled $3.76 to settle at $72.90. Brent crude, the international standard, also dropped $3.76, to $77.42 per barrel.

Strategists at Barclays expect global economic growth to slow in 2024 before recovering in 2025, as inflation falls further.

That’s still a “benign bottom for a business cycle,” Ajay Rajadhyaksha and other analysts wrote in a report, and they expect the U.S. unemployment rate to top out at 4.3%, well below where it has in past recessions.

In stock markets abroad, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3% after Japan reported that its exports rose a meager 1.6% in October, down from September’s growth.

Indexes were mixed across the rest of Asia and Europe.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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The S&P 500 rose 7.18 points, or 0.2%, to 4,502.88. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 163.51, or 0.5%, to 34,991.21, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by 9.45, or 0.1%, to 14,103.84.

Target helped lead the market with a 17.8% jump after it reported much stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. But another big retailer, TJX, fell 3.3% after the parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls gave a profit forecast for the upcoming holiday shopping season that fell short of analysts’ estimates.

Wall Street’s overall moves were more tentative coming off its best day since April, when an encouraging report on inflation boosted investors’ hopes that the Federal Reserve may finally be done with its hikes to interest rates. That in turn bolstered hopes the Fed can actually pull off the balancing act of getting high inflation under control without causing a painful recession.

Halfway through November, the S&P 50 has already jumped 7.4%, which would make this its best month in a year if it does nothing else for two weeks.

Treasury yields rose Wednesday, retracing a bit of the steep drops from the day before that had helped stocks to rally so much. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.53% from 4.45% late Tuesday, adding some pressure onto financial markets.

Another report on inflation Wednesday came in lower than expected. Prices at the wholesale level were 1.3% higher in October than a year earlier, and they surprisingly fell from September’s levels. That breathed more life into hopes that inflation is indeed cooling enough for the Fed to halt its barrage of rate hikes.

The Fed has already yanked its main interest rate to its highest level since 2001, up from virtually zero early last year. It’s hoping to slow the economy and hurt investment prices just enough to drive high inflation lower, without overdoing it.

But a separate report on sales at U.S. retailers released Wednesday morning “complicates the picture,” according to Chris Larkin, managing director at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.

Sales fell 0.1% in October from September, holding up better than the 0.3% drop forecast by economists. Stronger-than-expected sales at U.S. retailers is an indicator of a healthier economy, which is important given worries still exist about a possible recession. But they could also feed into upward pressure on inflation, which could get the Fed nervous about interest rates.

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which tends to track expectations for the Fed, and other yields climbed immediately after the release of the retail sales data and other economic reports. The two-year yield rose to 4.91% from 4.84% late Tuesday.

The bond market has been at the center of Wall Street’s sharp swings because higher rates and yields hurt prices for all kinds of investments.

That’s had investors anxiously waiting for when the Fed could stop its torrent of hikes to rates and, perhaps more importantly, begin cutting them. Such cuts can act like steroids for markets, goosing investment prices and providing more oxygen for the financial system.

Traders on Wall Street have built expectations that the Fed could begin cutting rates as soon as the summer following the recently encouraging data on inflation. That’s despite officials at the Fed saying that they will likely keep interest rates high for a while in order to ensure the battle is definitively won against inflation.

Strategists at Goldman Sachs are warning the market’s expectations for rate cuts by major central banks around the world are “too large and too early,” while adding that even if rates are heading lower, they will not be low like they were before.

The strategists led by Praveen Korapaty are looking for U.S. economic growth to slow from its strong pace now, but not to fall in a recession, while inflation eases back towards the Fed’s target.

In stock markets abroad, indexes jumped in Asia after momentum from Wall Street’s big rally Wednesday headed westward. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 3.9%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 2.5% and South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.2%.

Reports showed that Japan’s economy contracted during the summer. In the world’s second-largest economy, meanwhile, a report showed the Chinese economy is holding up even as some indicators have slowed.

Stocks were also higher in Europe, but by more modest amounts than in Asia.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

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The S&P 500 jumped 1.9% for its best day since April and hit a two-month high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 489 points, or 1.4%, while the Nasdaq composite charged 2.4% higher.

The highly anticipated report showed not only that overall inflation slowed last month, but so did a key underlying figure that economists see as a better indicator of future trends. The slowdown bolstered bets on Wall Street that inflation is cooling enough for the Federal Reserve to finally be done with its market-crunching hikes to interest rates.

Such hopes lifted all kinds of investments, and more than 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 climbed in a widespread rally.

Technology and other high-growth stocks tend to get some of the biggest boosts from easier rates, and a 2.3% rise for Amazon and 2.1% lift for Nvidia were two of the strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 upward.

Stocks of smaller companies also got a huge boost, with the Russell 2000 index of small stocks surging 5.4% for its best day in a year. Smaller companies are often seen as more dependent on borrowing cash to grow, which can make them more vulnerable to higher interest rates.

The inflation data helped to buoy Wall Street’s hopes that the Fed may actually pull off the balancing act of slowing the economy and hurting investment prices just enough to grind down inflation, but not so much as to cause a painful recession. That is still not a certainty, though.

The Fed has yanked its main interest rate to its highest level since 2001, up from virtually zero early last year, in hopes of getting inflation back down to 2%. The moves have already sent shockwaves through the financial system, with stocks still down from their peak in early 2022 and several high-profile U.S. bank failures earlier this year shaking confidence.

Even if it doesn’t hike rates any more, the Fed is likely to keep its main rate high for a while.

Still, the inflation report was immensely encouraging for Wall Street. After the report’s release, Treasury yields in the bond market tumbled immediately as traders flooded into bets that the Fed won’t hike rates again.

Investors also pushed up the expected timetable for the Fed’s first cut to rates, which can act like steroids for financial markets and provide oxygen across the financial system.

“Ain’t no reason to believe the last inflation mile will be the most difficult,” said EY Chief Economist Gregory Daco. “Slower consumer demand, reduced housing rents, lower profit margins, easing wage growth and restrictive monetary policy represent the ideal disinflationary combo heading into 2024.”

The yield on the 10-year Treasury tumbled to 4.44% from 4.64% late Monday, which is a significant move for the bond market. Just a few weeks ago, the 10-year yield was above 5% and at its highest level since 2007.

Traders now see zero chance of a rate increase at the Fed’s next meeting next month, down from a 14.5% probability a day before, according to data from CME Group.

The prospect of no more rate hikes reverberated across all kinds of financial markets.

The value of the U.S. dollar fell against many other currencies, further slowing its strong run since the summer, while the price of gold rose $16.30 to settle at $1,966.50 per ounce. Higher rates tend to hurt gold because the metal looks less attractive as an investment when bonds are paying higher yields and gold continues to pay nothing.

On Wall Street, real-estate stocks and others beaten down particularly hard by higher rates soared to some of the market’s biggest gains.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities jumped 11.7%, for example. It owns mega campuses catering to life sciences companies in hubs around the country.

Real-estate investment trusts send out most of their earnings to investors as dividends, which means they typically compete with bonds for the same kind of investors. When rates are rising and bonds are paying higher yields, those investors often turn away from REITs, utility companies and other high-dividend stocks.

Bank stocks were also strong on hopes that a halt to rate hikes will mean less pressure on the financial system. Zions Bancorp jumped 8.1%, and Comerica rose 7.8%. Both their stock prices fell sharply earlier this year following the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and other banks a tier or two below in size of the industry’s behemoths.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Home Depot rallied 5.4% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Target, Walmart and other big retailers will report their latest results later this week. They’re at the tail end of an earnings reporting season that has been better than analysts expected. Companies in the S&P 500 are on track to deliver their first overall growth in earnings in a year, according to FactSet.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 84.15 points to 4,495.70. The Dow gained 489.83 to 34,827.70, and the Nasdaq climbed 326.64 to 14,094.38.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mostly higher across Europe and Asia.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

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The S&P 500 slipped 3.69 points, or 0.1%, to 4,411.55. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 54.77, or 0.2%, to 34,337.87, and the Nasdaq composite fell 30.36, or 0.2%, to 13,767.74.

The market was coming off a week with relatively few reports to give hints on Wall Street’s central questions: When will the Federal Reserve halt its hikes to interest rates and begin cutting them, and can the economy stay as resilient as it has? But this week will offer more, including the latest monthly update on inflation and earnings reports from some of the nation’s biggest retailers.

The profit reporting season for the summer is winding down, and the majority of companies have again topped analysts’ expectations. Henry Schein became the latest to beat Wall Street’s forecasts, and the provider of health care products rose 5.4%.

Tyson Foods’ results also topped expectations for adjusted earnings, but its stock fell 2.8% after it warned of potentially challenging times ahead. The meat company said it could see zero growth in its overall revenue this upcoming fiscal year.

Later this week, Target, TJX and Walmart will report their own results, and more attention may also be on what they say about upcoming trends than about the summer.

The economy has remained strong, even though the Federal Reserve has hiked its main interest rate to its highest level since 2001 in hopes of stamping out high inflation. But worries remain about whether it can stay solid as the full effects of rate hikes make their way through the system.

That’s why so much attention will be on Tuesday’s inflation report. The hope is that inflation will continue to cool from its peak in the summer of 2022, when it topped 9%, and convince the Federal Reserve that no more hikes to rates are necessary. That in turn could speed up the timeline for potential cuts to interest rates, which can juice financial markets.

Economists expect the report to show that consumers paid prices that were 3.3% higher in October than a year earlier, down from September’s inflation rate of 3.7%.

With inflation generally cooling, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gave some hope recently that a recent rise in longer-term Treasury yields could act as substitutes for further rate hikes, which could mean the Fed may be done with them. But Powell said last week the Fed would not hesitate to hike rates again if needed.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 4.62% from 4.63% late Friday. It’s come down over the last month on hopes the Fed may be done with its rate hikes, but it’s still well above where it’s been for years.

High rates and yields weigh on all kinds of investments, and they tend to hit technology and other high-growth companies particularly hard. Some Big Tech stocks were among the heaviest weights on the S&P 500, including a 0.9% dip for Apple and 0.8% slip for Microsoft.

Those two, along with five other Big Tech stocks that make up what’s called the “Magnificent Seven,” have been disproportionately responsible for most of this year’s gains for the S&P 500.

“Such weak price breadth is not indicative of a healthy bull market, in our view, and accurately reflects the challenging earnings dynamics occurring under the surface of the market,” according to strategists at Morgan Stanley led by Michael Wilson.

He sees the challenge continuing into early 2024 before a sustainable profit recovery could take hold.

More shakiness could be ahead if investors focus on a couple challenges facing the market, according to Chris Larkin, managing director at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley

The credit-rating agency Moody’s said late Friday that it could eventually downgrade the top-tier “AAA” rating it has for U.S. government debt given the cost of rising interest rates and political polarization in Congress.

The latter has been playing out in another showdown that could result in a U.S. government shutdown.

While a shutdown or the cutting of the U.S. government’s credit rating may not trigger big moves by themselves, general worries about Washington’s big spending deficits and Congress’ inability to work together have been behind some of the recent run higher in Treasury yields.

In stock markets abroad, Chinese indexes rose after Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com reported a pickup in sales for this year’s Singles’ Day shopping festival. Like other Chinese companies, they’re grappling with a stop-start recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.

On Wednesday, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, is set to meet with President Joe Biden on the sidelines of a Pacific Rim summit in California. It will be the first face-to-face encounter in a year between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies.

Stock indexes were mostly higher across the rest of Asia and Europe.

AP Writers Zimo Zhong and Matt Ott contributed.

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The S&P 500 sank 35.43 points, or 0.8%, to 4,347.35. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 220.33, or 0.6%, to 33,891.94, and the Nasdaq composite lost 128.97, or 0.9%, to 13,521.45.

Stocks had been higher earlier in the day, and the S&P 500 was on track for a ninth straight gain, which would have been its longest winning streak in 19 years. But the stock market quickly sagged under the weight of rising yields in the bond market.

Treasury yields rose in the morning after a report suggested the U.S. job market remains remarkably solid. They climbed further when the U.S. government announced the results of a sale of $24 billion in Treasury bonds. And then they spurted higher after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed “will not hesitate” to raise interest rates further if it feels high inflation is not fully under control.

The 10-year Treasury yield, which is the centerpiece of the bond market, rose to 4.63% from 4.50% late Wednesday.

High rates and yields have been the main driver for the stock market for months because they hurt prices for investments, slow the economy and raise the pressure on the financial system.

A swift rise in the 10-year yield that began in the summer earlier knocked the S&P 500 down by 10% from its peak for the year. The yield briefly topped 5% to reach its highest level since 2007, as it caught up with the Federal Reserve’s main interest rate, which is above 5.25% and at its highest level since 2001.

Last week, though, investors took comments from the Fed’s Powell to indicate is hikes to interest rates may be done. He said the summer’s jumps in Treasury yields could substitute for further hikes to rates if they remain persistent. That triggered a sharp easing in Treasury yields, which in turn helped stocks to rally.

But Powell reiterated Thursday that no decision has been made yet.

Even though some recent data reports have been encouraging, he made pains to say, “Inflation has given us a few headfakes.” He said the Fed will continue to move carefully, trying not to be “misled by a few good months of data,” while aware of the risks of hiking rates too far and driving the economy into a painful recession.

Powell’s comments cooled some of the enthusiasm that had built on Wall Street as traders moved up their forecasts for when the Federal Reserve could begin cutting rates. Many are betting on rate cuts to begin by summer, according to data from CME Group.

Some economists have already been trimming their forecasts for how deeply the Fed may ultimately cut, saying the central bank will likely keep rates higher than they were before COVID.

At Goldman Sachs, for example, economist David Mericle says the Fed could begin cutting rates during the last three months of 2024. But he sees the Fed cutting its federal funds rate only to a range of 3.50% to 3.75% from its current range of 5.25% to 5.50%.

Earlier, Mericle thought the Fed could bring it down as low as 3% to 3.25%, but he said the U.S. government’s big, persistent deficits and other factors could keep rates higher.

The worries about rates overshadowed some more profit reports from big U.S. companies for the summer that came in better than expected.

The Walt Disney Co. rose 6.9% after saying it added more Disney+ streaming subscribers than Wall Street had forecast, while also increasing its target for annual cost savings.

Tapestry climbed 3% for another one of the bigger gains in the S&P 500 after the maker of high-end shoes and handbags beat Wall Street’s profit forecast

On the opposite end was Becton Dickinson, which sank 9.3%. The maker of medical equipment reported profit for the summer that matched Wall Street’s expectations, but its financial forecasts for its upcoming fiscal year fell short of some analysts’ estimates.

Topgolf Callaway Brands was another weight on the market and sank 16.9% despite beating analysts’ expectations for profit during the summer. It cut its forecasts for full-year revenue and profit, in part because of weakening trends at its Topgolf entertainment venues outside of newly opened ones.

In the oil market, crude prices regained a bit of their big losses from earlier in the week.

A barrel of U.S. crude added 41 cents to settle at $75.74, and Brent crude, the international standard, gained 47 cents to $80.01 per barrel. Both, though, remain roughly 6% lower for the week so far amid worries about supplies outstripping demand.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mostly higher across Europe and Asia.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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The S&P 500 edged up by 4.40 points, or 0.1%, to 4,382.78 for a third straight day of quiet, mixed trading. Its movements have become much calmer after the index screamed to its best week of the year last week, which itself came after months of painful losses.

Though the gain was slight, it was enough to extend the index’s winning streak to eight days. That ties its longest such winning streak since a nine-day run 19 years ago.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 40.33 points, or 0.1%, to 34,112.27, and the Nasdaq composite rose 10.56, or 0.1%, to 13,650.41.

Eli Lilly was one of the strongest forces pushing upward on the market. It rose 3.2% after U.S. regulators said its popular diabetes treatment, Mounjaro, can be sold as a weight-loss drug and tap into a market with massive potential.

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines were also toward the front of the market, and each rose more than 2% as oil prices continued to drop and ease the pressure on fuel costs.

Warner Brothers Discovery tumbled 19% after reporting a worse loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also lost more streaming subscribers than forecast.

The reporting season for summertime profits is winding down, and the majority of companies has been topping Wall Street’s forecasts. That’s usually the case, and it’s offered some support for the stock market. But the big driver for stock price movements since the summer has been what yields are doing in the bond market.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.51% from 4.57% late Tuesday, helping to impart calm across financial markets.

A swift rise in the 10-year yield that began in the summer earlier knocked the S&P 500 down by more than 10% from its peak for the year. The 10-year yield briefly topped 5% to reach its highest level since 2007, as it caught up with the Federal Reserve’s main interest rate, which is above 5.25% and at its highest level since 2001.

The Fed has jacked up rates in hopes of slowing the economy and hurting investment prices enough to put downward pressure on inflation and get it back to its 2% goal.

Last week, though, investors took comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell to indicate the central bank’s hikes to interest rates may be done. He said the summer’s jump in Treasury yields could substitute for further hikes to rates if they remain persistent. That triggered a sharp easing in Treasury yields, which in turn helped stocks to rally.

Now, investors are trying to handicap what may come next. A wide range of outcomes is still possible for the U.S. economy, with the 10-year yield potentially easing as low as 3% if it were to fall into a painful recession, according to Bank of America strategists led by Bruno Braizinha. At the same time, they said the 10-year yield could rise back above 5% if the economy remains resilient.

A sharp drop in oil prices recently could take some pressure off inflation, which in turn could help the Fed feel more confident about holding rates steady instead of raising them further.

The price for a barrel of U.S. crude oil is back to where it was in July, and it dropped another $2.04 to settle at $75.33. Brent crude, the international standard, fell $2.07 to $79.54.

Oil prices have been tumbling since topping $90 a little more than a month ago. The latest Israel-Hamas war raised concerns about potential disruptions to supplies, which made prices volatile for a while. But worries about demand are still high given faltering economies around the world, particularly in China.

Stock indexes fell 0.2% in Shanghai and 0.6% in Hong Kong, joining modest losses across much of the rest of Asia. Stocks were higher in Europe.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Axon Enterprise rose 6.1% after the maker of Tasers, body cameras and other equipment reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts forecast.

Ralph Lauren rose 3.2% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts forecast.

eBay sank 2% after its forecast for revenue for the last three months of 2023 fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Rivian Automotive swung from an early gain to a loss of 2.4% after the electric vehicle company raised its forecast for how many vehicles it will produce this year and reported weaker profit than expected for the latest quarter.

AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed.

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The S&P 500 rose 12.40 points, or 0.3%, to 4,378.38, as gains for some Big Tech stocks helped offset losses for the majority of stocks in the index. It’s the second straight quiet day for the index after months of heavy losses swiveled sharply to a rally last week, its best of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 56.74, or 0.2%, to 34,152.60, and the Nasdaq composite gained 121.08, or 0.9%, to 13,639.86.

TripAdvisor jumped 11% after reporting better results for the summer than analysts expected, while Emerson Electric sank 7.4% after falling short of expectations.

The majority of big companies has been topping estimates so far this earnings reporting season, but another factor has been much more influential in driving the stock market’s big swings since the summer: the bond market.

Treasury yields there eased Tuesday, with the 10-year yield falling to 4.56% from 4.66% late Monday.

Earlier in the summer, a swift rise in Treasury yields sent the stock market reeling. Yields were catching up to the Federal Reserve’s main interest rate, which is above 5.25% and at its highest level since 2001 in hopes of getting high inflation under control. High rates and yields hurt stock prices, slow the economy and raise the pressure on the entire financial system.

But yields eased sharply last week after investors took comments from the Federal Reserve to indicate it may finally be done with its hikes to interest rates. Inflation has been moderating since peaking in the summer of 2022, and the recent jump in Treasury yields may be acting like a substitute for more rate hikes.

Of course, Fed Chair Jerome Powell also cautioned last week that more hikes may still come if the rise in Treasury yields does not stay “persistent.”

Another Fed official, Gov. Michelle Bowman, said Tuesday she still expects the need to raise the federal funds rate further, but she voted to hold steady at the last meeting in part because the outlook for the economy is so uncertain. She also said it’s still too early to know how the summer’s run higher in Treasury yields will affect the economy and inflation.

More speeches by Fed officials this week could prove to be the biggest movers of financial markets, with relatively few high-impact economic reports on the calendar. Depending on what Fed officials say, that could portend a quieter week for financial markets, which have had quick triggers.

“When narratives shift, the market response is often fast and ferocious, with the initial reaction providing the best returns,” said Jason Draho, head of asset allocation Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, homebuilder D.R. Horton gained 2.9% after reporting better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Uber Technologies rose 3.7% after swinging between gains and losses through the morning. It reported a bigger profit than expected, but its revenue growth was not as strong as forecast.

Shares of WeWork were not trading after the office-sharing company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It’s a stunning fall for the company that had promised to upend the way people went to work around the world. After earlier being valued at $47 billion, its stock plunged 98.5% this year.

In the oil market, crude prices tumbled to continue their own sharp recent swings.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude dropped $3.45 to settle at $77.37 and is back to where it was in July, before the latest Israel-Hamas war raised worries about potential disruptions to supplies.

Brent crude, the international standard, lost $3.57, to $81.61.

Oil prices fell as worries continue about how much fuel the world’s second-largest economy will burn. China reported its exports fell 6.4% in October from a year earlier, the sixth straight monthly decline, while imports rose 3%, the first such increase in over a year. The trade surplus fell to $56.5 billion.

Stocks fell 1.6% in Hong Kong and by less than 0.1% in Shanghai, joining losses across much of the rest of Asia. Drops were more modest for stock indexes in Europe.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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The S&P 500 added 7.64 points, or 0.2%, to 4,365.98, even though the majority of stocks within it and across Wall Street weakened. The index was coming off its best week of the year, which itself came on the heels of several months of sharp losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 34.54, or 0.1%, to 34,095.86, and the Nasdaq composite gained 40.50, or 0.3%, to 13,518.78.

The flashpoint for the stock market’s movements in both directions has been what the bond market is doing, and it regressed Monday following its own extreme moves.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.64%. That’s up from 4.57% late Friday, but it’s still below the perch above 5% that it reached last month, its highest level since 2007. High yields hurt prices for stocks and other investments, while slowing the economy and raising the pressure on the financial system.

This upcoming week looks to have fewer big events on the calendar that could shake financial markets. It’s a slower week for corporate profit reports, with roughly 50 companies in the S&P 500 set to say how much they earned during the summer. That’s down from about 150 a week before.

Constellation Energy rose 6.5% after it reported better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Berkshire Hathaway ‘s Class B stock fell 1.5% after it reported a loss for its latest quarter over the weekend. Much of the loss was because of drops in the value of some of Berkshire Hathaway’s investments on paper. Looking only at its operating profit, Warren Buffett’s company beat analysts’ expectations.

Even more companies than usual in the S&P 500 have been beating Wall Street’s profit forecasts this reporting season. The index looks to be on pace to deliver its first growth in earnings per share in a year.

“Don’t worry,” strategists at Bank of America led by Savita Subramanian wrote in a BofA Global Research report. “Earnings were fine.”

Trading of WeWork’s stock was halted amid speculation about its financial health. It’s plunged 98.5% this year to less than $1.

The events with perhaps the most potential to shake markets this upcoming week are speeches on the schedule by officials from the Federal Reserve.

Last week, the Federal Reserve held its main interest rate steady for a second straight time, leaving it at its highest level since 2001. It’s jacked up its federal funds rate from nearly zero in hopes of getting high inflation under control.

Perhaps more importantly for markets, Fed Chair Jerome Powell also hinted that a swift rise in Treasury yields since the summer — and the tumult that created in financial markets — could act as substitutes for further hikes to rates if they remain “persistent.” That’s because they could be slowing the economy and putting downward pressure on the economy by themselves.

A report from the Federal Reserve Monday said that significant numbers of loan officers at banks reported tightening their standards to lend money. Many banks cited a less favorable or more uncertain outlook on the economy. A slowdown in lending could tap the brakes further on the economy.

Powell’s comments last week ignited hopes that the Fed may be done hiking interest rates. Traders also increased bets the central bank could begin cutting rates by this upcoming summer. Cuts to rates can act like steroids for financial markets.

Over the last couple years, Wall Street has built up hopes several times that cuts to interest rates may be on the horizon, only for them to get dashed by Fed officials pledging to keep interest rates high for a long time to ensure inflation goes down.

At the end of this week will come a preliminary report showing how much inflation U.S. households are preparing for. Such inflation expectations have been key for the Fed, which fears too-high expectations could trigger a vicious cycle that keeps inflation high.

In the oil market, crude prices gained after Saudi Arabia and Russia reiterated their commitment to maintaining oil supply cuts of more than 1 million barrels per day until the end of the year.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 31 cents to settle at $80.82. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 29 cents to $85.18 per barrel.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mostly lower in Europe after jumping across much of Asia.

South Korean stocks leaped 5.7% after the government restored a ban to prevent investors from betting on stock prices will fall by borrowing shares and selling them.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 2.4%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.7%

AP Writer Zimo Zhong contributed.

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The S&P 500 climbed 40.56 points, or 0.9%, to 4,358.34 and rose every day of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 222.24, or 0.7%, to 34,061.32, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 184.09, or 1.4%, to 13,478.28.

Stocks surged through the week on rising hopes the Federal Reserve is finally done with its market-crunching hikes to interest rates, meant to get inflation under control. A report on Friday underscored that pressure is easing on inflation after it showed employers hired fewer workers last month than economists expected.

It’s a stunning turnaround from just a week ago, when Wall Street was reeling after the S&P 500 had fallen 10% below its high point for the year. That sent Wall Street’s main index into what investors call a “correction.”

Since then strong profit reports helped drive some stocks to towering gains. Generac, a maker of backup generators, soared nearly 28% for its best week since its stock began trading in 2010. At Expedia Group, another stronger-than-forecast report sent its stock nearly 22% higher for its best week since the market was surging out of the coronavirus crash in early 2020.

But it was interest rates, yields and inflation that were at the center of all the wild movements for financial markets around the world.

Before this week, stocks had been struggling under the weight of rapidly rising Treasury yields. Those yields were in turn catching up to the Fed’s main interest rate, which is above 5.25% and at its highest level since 2001.

Higher rates and yields slow the economy, hurt prices for investments and raise the risk of something breaking within the financial system, such as the three high-profile U.S. bank failures that rattled financial markets during the spring.

“It was really fear that the Fed was going to go too far,” said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer for Northern Trust Wealth Management.

The Fed put such pressure on the economy intentionally, hoping to starve inflation of its fuel. It wants the job market to cool, particularly pay raises going to workers. The Fed fears too-strong pay gains could create a vicious cycle that keeps inflation high.

Analysts said Friday’s jobs report offered encouraging signals for the Fed, with average hourly earnings rising less in October from September than expected, though it doesn’t mean the job is done.

Treasury yields in the bond market tumbled immediately after the jobs report, releasing more of the pressure that had built up on Wall Street. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.52% from 4.67% late Thursday and from more than 5% last week, when it hit its highest level since 2007.

Of course, that sharp fall in yields could also end up hurting investors in the long run. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said this week that the central bank may not need to hike rates any more if the recent rise in yields stays “persistent.” Such high yields could slow the economy and push down on inflation by themselves, without requiring the Fed to hike rates again.

A swift regression in Treasury yields could make the Fed more nervous and encourage it to consider raising rates again. The 10-year yield in just a week eliminated its rise from all of October.

Plus, a slowing job market raises pressure on economic growth, and worries still exist on Wall Street about a possible recession even though the economy is strong at the moment.

Still, a slowing U.S. job market is exactly what investors wanted to see because it could convince the Fed to halt its barrage of hikes to interest rates.

Traders are moving up expectations for when the first cut to interest rates by the Fed could happen, potentially by the summer, according to data from CME Group. Such cuts can act like steroids for financial markets.

For investors around the world, the “Fed matters more than other central banks,” and weak U.S. data is “the only game-changer for markets,” foreign-exchange strategists at Bank of America wrote in a BofA Global Research report.

A separate report on Friday said growth in U.S. services industries, such as finance and construction, was weaker last month than economists expected. The report from the Institute for Supply Management also suggested a slight easing in prices.

Excitement about a potentially easier Fed was more than enough to offset a fall for Apple, which is Wall Street’s most influential stock.

The most valuable U.S. stock fell 0.5% despite reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Analysts said investors were likely disappointed with Apple’s forecast for revenue for the last three months of 2023.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Cardinal Health. It rose 6.9% after a better-than-expected profit report

Stocks indexes were mixed in Europe and higher across most of Asia.

AP Writers Damian J. Troise, Zimo Zhong and Matt Ott contributed.

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The S&P 500 leaped 1.9% for its fourth straight winning day. It’s already up 4.9% this week and on pace for its best week in nearly a year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 564 points, or 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.8%.

Stocks around the world rallied after the Federal Reserve opted against raising its main interest rate late Wednesday. It’s already jacked up rates furiously since early last year in hopes of slowing the economy and hurting financial markets enough to starve high inflation of its fuel.

More importantly for financial markets, investors also took comments by the Fed’s chair to mean that recent jumps in longer-term Treasury yields were acting like rate-hike substitutes and could obviate the need for more increases by the Fed.

Longer-term Treasury yields fell as Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke following the central bank’s decision, and they kept sinking Thursday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 4.67% from 4.74% late Wednesday and from more than 5% last week, when it reached its highest level since 2007.

Lower yields provide oxygen across financial markets. They make it easier for businesses and households to get loans, encourage investors to pay higher prices for stocks and reduce the pressure on the entire financial system.

Of course, the recent drop in yields could end up shooting Wall Street in the foot. Powell said that a run higher in Treasury yields could displace the need for another rate hike if it is “persistent.” If the 10-year yield ends up falling too far, that could make the Federal Reserve more nervous and encourage more rate hikes.

“That was an interesting nuance, but I don’t think it overrides the majority of his comments that suggested it’s more likely than not that the Fed is done hiking,” said Lon Erickson, portfolio manager at Thornburg Investment Management.

Hopes for no more Fed hikes had financial markets around the world ebullient. Stock indexes jumped 1.8% in South Korea, 1.1% in Japan, 1.5% in Germany and 1.8% in France.

In London, the FTSE 100 climbed 1.4% after the Bank of England left its main interest alone, like the Fed.

Some reports on the U.S. economy also showed a bit of momentum that could help ease the pressure on high inflation. Fed officials are waiting to collect enough such data before they say they’re comfortable rates are high enough to sustainably drive inflation back down to their 2% target.

One preliminary report Thursday said U.S. businesses produced more stuff during the summer than the number of hours worked increased, indicating they got more efficient. Such gains in productivity could ease pressure on inflation while helping the economy to grow.

Productivity looks like it may be set for a continued uptrend over the next two years, aided in part by adoption of artificial-intelligence technology, according to economists at Deutsche Bank.

A separate report, meanwhile, said slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected. That’s bad news for those workers, but a cooler job market could take pressure off inflation.

Big U.S. companies, meanwhile, continue to report better profits for the summer than analysts expected.

Eli Lilly was one of the strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 upward after it reported stronger profit and revenue than analysts estimated. Its stock rose 4.7% after it said it benefited from soaring sales for its blockbuster diabetes treatment, Mounjaro, which is widely used for weight loss.

Starbucks jumped 9.5% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than Wall Street forecast. It benefited from customers buying more and paying higher prices.

Also on Thursday, Cedar Fair and Six Flags said they’ll merge to create an expansive amusement park operator with operations spread across 17 U.S. states and three countries. Their stocks were mixed, but both remain up more than 7% this week after rumors of the deal spread.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Moderna, which sank 6.5% after reporting a much worse loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 79.92 points to 4,317.78. The Dow jumped 564.50 to 33,838,08, and the Nasdaq gained 232.72 to 13,294.19.

More swings could be coming for Wall Street. On Friday morning, the latest monthly update on the U.S. jobs market will arrive. Economists expect it to show a slowdown in hiring for October.

A remarkably resilient job market has helped to keep the economy out of a long-predicted recession, but the fear at the Fed is too much strength there could push upward on inflation.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

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The S&P 500 rose 1.1% in its first trading coming off a third straight monthly loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 221 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.6%.

Stocks built on gains as Treasury yields eased in the bond market after the Fed announced its decision to hold interest rates steady, as expected. The Fed has already yanked the overnight rate from nearly zero early last year to its highest level since 2001, above 5.25%.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in the afternoon that the central bank still isn’t sure its main interest rate is high enough to ensure high inflation will move down to its 2% target. That kept alive the possibility of more hikes by the Fed. He also said cuts to interest rates, which can act like steroids for financial markets, aren’t even on Fed officials’ minds at the moment.

But Powell acknowledged that a recent run higher in longer-term Treasury yields, and the tumble in stock prices that helped cause, are working on their own to slow the economy and could be starving high inflation of its fuel. If they can do that persistently, he indicated they could help the Fed whip inflation without requiring more rate hikes.

The jump in yields has already brought the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate to nearly 8%, for example, “and those higher costs are going to weigh on economic activity to the extent this tightening persists.”

And, he said, the Fed has time to assess the full effects of its past rate hikes after unleashing a furious barrage that began early last year.

“It takes time, we know that, and you can’t rush it,” Powell said. “Slowing down is giving us a better sense of how much more we need to do, if we need to do more.”

All together, Powell’s comments were “dovish enough” for financial markets, according to Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment officer for BMO Wealth Management. “Dovish” is what Wall Street calls an inclination to keep interest rates easier, and Ma continues to expect the Fed won’t hike rates any more.

Since the spring, longer-term Treasury yields have been rising rapidly and catching up with the Fed’s overnight rate. They’ve rallied as the U.S. economy has remained remarkably resilient and the central bank has warned it may keep its short-term rate high for a long time. Last month, the 10-year Treasury yield topped 5% to reach its highest level since 2007.

High yields knock down prices for stocks and other investments while making borrowing more expensive for nearly everyone. That slows the economy and puts pressure on the entire financial system.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury sank to 4.76% Wednesday from 4.92% late Tuesday. Much of the drop came after the Fed gave a nod to the notion that higher bond yields and shakiness in financial markets may be slowing the economy on their own.

But yields were already easing in the morning following several mixed reports on the economy.

One report from ADP suggested hiring accelerated last month by employers outside the government, though not by as much as economists expected. A more comprehensive jobs report from the U.S. government will arrive Friday.

A separate report said U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of September than economists expected. The Fed has been hoping for softening there, which could take pressure off inflation without requiring many layoffs.

A third report, meanwhile, said U.S. manufacturing contracted by more last month than economists had forecast. Manufacturing has been one of the U.S. economy’s hardest-hit areas.

In the background, big U.S. companies continue to report stronger profits for the summer than analysts expected, though that often hasn’t been enough to offset worries about higher yields.

DuPont fell 8.2% despite reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts had forecast. It gave some financial forecasts for 2023 that fell short of analysts’ expectations as it sees weakness in China and other challenges.

Estee Lauder also pointed to slower growth in China, among other factors, when it cut some of its financial forecasts for its fiscal year. Its stock tumbled 18.9%.

On the winning side of Wall Street, chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices rose 9.7% after it reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than forecast. Its revenue forecast for the end of 2023 disappointed some analysts, but it also pointed to growth in 2024 coming from the artificial-intelligence boom.

Big Tech stocks were also winners Wednesday, along with other high-growth stocks typically seen as the biggest beneficiaries of easier interest rates.

Gains of 2.4% for Microsoft, 1.9% for Apple and 3.8% for Nvidia were the three strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 higher.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 44.06 points to 4,237.86. The Dow gained 221.71 to 33,274.58, and the Nasdaq added 210.23 to 13,061.47.

Earlier in the day, stock indexes were mostly higher across Europe and Asia.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed

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The S&P 500 gained 26.98, or 0.6%, to 4,193.80, a day after clawing back a bigger chunk of its loss for October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 123.91, or 0.4%, to 33,052.87, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 61.75, or 0.5%, to 12,851.24.

Most stocks ended up climbing after indexes swayed between small gains and losses through the morning, and more than 80% of the stocks in the S&P 500 strengthened.

Pinterest jumped 19% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It cited growth in users around the world, with Europe particularly strong.

Arista Networks was one of the strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 upward and climbed 14% after also reporting stronger profit for the summer than Wall Street had forecast. Analysts raised their estimates for future growth following the report on expectations the company will benefit from the artificial-intelligence boom.

The majority of big U.S. companies has reported stronger profit for the summer than expected, and Caterpillar also joined them. But the heavy machinery maker’s stock sank 6.7% after analysts focused on a slowdown in orders and growing inventories at dealers.

JetBlue Airways tumbled 10.5% after it reported a worse loss for the summer than expected. It said demand for travel is still strong during peak periods, but the industry has too many seats chasing after too few passengers during off-peak times. It also called the magnitude of air-traffic control and weather-related delays “staggering.”

VF Corp., the company behind Vans, Timberlands and other brands, dropped 14% after it reported weaker profit than expected. It also slashed its dividend 70% and withdrew its forecasts for revenue and profit this fiscal year.

Even though the big companies in the S&P 500 appear to be on track to report higher earnings for the first time in a year, the main index of Wall Street’s health still closed October with a loss of 2.2% for the month. That’s its third straight monthly drop, the longest losing streak since the COVID-19 pandemic froze the global economy at the start of 2020.

A big reason for the weakness has been the swift rise in Treasury yields in the bond market. The 10-year Treasury yield, which is the centerpiece of the bond market, has jumped from less than 3.50% during the spring to more than 5% recently, touching its highest level since 2007.

Higher yields knock down prices for stocks and other investments, while slowing the overall economy and adding pressure on the entire financial system.

The 10-year Treasury yield ticked higher to 4.90% from 4.89% late Monday, and much of Wall Street is focused on what’s coming Wednesday afternoon. That’s when the Federal Reserve will make its latest announcement on interest rates.

The Fed has already pulled its main overnight interest rate above 5.25% to its highest level since 2001. It’s been saying it will make upcoming moves based on what data say about inflation and the job market, where the worry is that too-strong growth could give inflation more fuel.

Reports on the economy Tuesday came in mixed. One said that growth in wages and benefits for U.S. workers slowed during the summer, compared with year-earlier levels, but not by as much as economists expected.

The data “points to a disappointingly gradual moderation,” according to EY Chief Economist Gregory Daco, and wage growth remains above the Fed’s comfort level.

Another report said that confidence among U.S. consumers weakened last month, but not by as much as economists expected.

Strong spending by U.S. households has been one of the main reasons the economy has avoided a long-predicted recession, but it could also be adding upward pressure on inflation. That’s why the Fed is nervous about too strong growth in wages, as workers fight for higher pay amid high inflation.

The overwhelming expectation on Wall Street is still for the Fed to keep its overnight interest rate steady on Wednesday. The bigger question is how long it will keep that main rate high, before cutting it to offer financial markets some more oxygen.

In Tokyo, the Bank of Japan added more upward pressure on interest rates. It said it would allow yields on 10-year bonds to rise above 1%, calling that level “a reference point” instead of a more rigidly set cap. Even so, analysts said investors were likely braced for something even tougher from Japan, which is home to some of the easiest interest-rate policies around the world.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.5%, an outlier among losses across much of Asia amid worries about China’s economic strength. Stocks indexes in Europe were modestly higher.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama, Matt Ott and Alex Veiga contributed.

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Investors are looking forward to key reports on consumer confidence and the U.S. job market. The Federal Reserve announces its next move on interest rates Wednesday.

The S&P 500 rose 49.45 points, or 1.2%, to close at 4,166.82. It was the first trading after the benchmark index dropped more than 10% below its high point for the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 511.37, or 1.6%, to 32,928.96 points. The Nasdaq composite rose 146.47, or 1.2%, to 12,789.48.

Western Digital was the best performer in the tech sector after it reported better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The maker of data storage products also announced plans to split its company into two, one focused on traditional disk drives, the other on flash memory. Its stock jumped 7.3%.

McDonald’s reported stronger profit and revenue for the summer than analysts expected. Its stock rose 1.7% after it said it benefited from higher prices for its products in the United States and raised its dividend.

More than 3 out of 4 companies in the S&P 500 have been reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than Wall Street expected, according to FactSet. With roughly half the reports in, S&P 500 companies appear on track to deliver profit growth for the first time in a year.

“It looks like its coming in as the market had hoped, that we’re past the worst of it,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

The results have also been good enough that earnings forecasts for the remainder of 2023 and 2024 seem to staying stable, he said.

Solid earnings are usually encouraging for the stock market, which tends to follow the trend of corporate profits over the long term. But Wall Street has been struggling recently due to a couple big worries. First is the mixed reaction to profit reports from some influential Big Tech companies. Their stock movements carry extra weight on the S&P 500 because of their size.

Apple will report its latest quarterly results on Thursday. Because it’s the most valuable stock on Wall Street, it is also the most influential stock on the S&P 500. Already, sharp drops for Alphabet and other Big Tech members following their profit reports have shaken the market this reporting season.

Big Tech soared much more than the rest of the market early this year, which helped to lift the S&P 500 but also meant big expectations for continued growth. Those expectations perhaps grew too large.

The second big factor dragging on the stock market since its high point for the year on July 31 has been a sharp run higher in Treasury yields. When bonds are paying higher yields, investors have less appetite for pricey stocks and other investments. They also make borrowing more expensive for everyone from huge corporations to home buyers, which puts the brakes on the economy.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.89% from 4.84% late Friday. It jumped from less than 3.50% during the spring to more than 5% earlier this month, its highest level since 2007. A remarkably resilient economy and other factors have the 10-year Treasury yield catching up to the main interest rate controlled by the Fed, which is above 5.25% and at its highest level since 2001.

The Fed has jacked up its federal funds rate in hopes of slowing the economy and stock prices enough to starve high inflation of its fuel. Its next meeting on interest rates will begin Tuesday, with an announcement coming Wednesday.

The widespread expectation is that it will leave the federal funds rate, which affects overnight lending by banks, alone. What will be more important is any hints about what the Fed will do next. Fed officials have been saying they may keep rates high for a long time to ensure inflation goes down, but they’ve also said the recent jump in longer-term Treasury yields could be acting like rate hikes on their own.

The central bank says it will make all its upcoming moves based on what incoming data about the economy and inflation say. That’s why this week could be a shaky one for markets, with many data points that could change officials’ minds.

On Tuesday, the government will release data on employment costs from July through September. Workers have been fighting for higher raises, but the Fed worries that too-high pay increases could give inflation more fuel. Also, The Conference Board will release its consumer confidence index for October.

On Wednesday will come the latest monthly update on the number of job openings across the country. One way the Fed could pull off the delicate balancing act of slowing the economy without creating a recession would be if the number of job openings cools without requiring waves of layoffs.

And then on Friday will come the jobs report for October, which is typically one of the most anticipated pieces of economic data every month.

Through it all will be other updates on the economy and borrowing by the U.S. government, as well as profit reports from roughly 150 companies in the S&P 500, including CVS Health, Pfizer and Starbucks.

Several oil-and-gas producers will also be reporting, including Marathon Petroleum. They’ve benefited from a run higher in crude prices since the summer. A barrel of U.S. crude jumped from less than $70 to more than $93 earlier this month.

But oil prices have been shaky since the start of the latest Israel-Hamas war. Traders are still uncertain about whether the fighting will spill into the politics around the region and affect production from Iran or other big suppliers.

A barrel of U.S. crude fell 3.8% Monday to $82.31. Brent crude, the international standard, sank 3.3% to $87.45 per barrel.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Europe.

AP Writers Zimo Zhong and Matt Ott contributed.

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The S&P 500 fell 1.2% for its ninth drop in 11 days and touched its lowest level in five months. Another steep fall for Big Tech dragged on the market, sending the Nasdaq composite to a market-leading loss of 1.8%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 251 points, or 0.8%.

Meta Platforms was among the market’s heaviest weights and tumbled 3.7% even though the parent company of Facebook and Instagram reported fatter profit and revenue for the summer than analysts expected.

Investors may have been spooked by the company’s warning that it’s seen some initial softness in advertising due to the latest Israel-Hamas war, and analysts said the company gave a wider range than it has in the past for its forecast of upcoming revenue.

Meta is one of the “Magnificent Seven” Big Tech stocks that were responsible for a huge chunk of the S&P 500’s gains through the first seven months of the year. Because they’re so immense in size, their stock movements carry extra weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes. And their tremendous rallies earlier this year mean big expectations have built for them, raising the bar for their profit reports.

Two of the Magnificent Seven offered reports earlier this week that Wall Street saw as mixed, with Alphabet tumbling 9.5% and Microsoft rising 3.1% on Wednesday.

Thursday’s further drops for Big Tech came even though yields eased in the bond market, which has been at the center of sharp moves for financial markets around the world for months.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.84% from 4.96% late Wednesday. Early in the morning, it had neared its highest level since 2007. Yields swung after reports showed the U.S. economy continues to storm ahead despite much higher interest rates that have already lashed the stock market.

A preliminary estimate suggested the U.S. economy’s growth accelerated during the summer by more than economists expected. A separate report indicated the U.S. job market remains remarkably solid, with relatively few layoffs across the country. And the European Central Bank opted to refrain from hiking interest rates for the first time in more than a year.

Stocks have been under pressure since the summer as Treasury yields have spurted higher. They have been catching up with the main interest rate controlled by the Federal Reserve, which is at its highest level since 2001 as the central bank tries to get high inflation under control.

Higher bond yields make investors less willing to pay high prices for stocks and other investments. They also slow the economy bluntly, raising the risk of a recession in the future, and increase the pressure across the financial system.

Thursday’s reports show the U.S. economy is clearly not in a recession. But Wall Street is more concerned about what will happen rather than what’s in the past, and the worry is that a solid economy could put continued upward pressure on inflation. That in turn could push the Fed to keep rates high for a long time to defeat high inflation. And that could mean eventual weakness for the economy and corporate profits.

“The Fed’s job isn’t done, and it does not appear that higher interest rates are doing the job for them,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial.

In the near term, traders overwhelmingly expect the Federal Reserve to hold rates steady at its next meeting, which ends Wednesday. That would mark a second straight meeting where the Fed did not hike its main interest rate, which it has pulled above 5.25% from nearly zero early last year.

“Higher and hold, yes,” said Lindsay Rosner, head of multi-sector fixed income investing at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. “Higher and hiking, no.”

Even better-than-expected profits from big U.S. companies haven’t been enough to arrest the market’s recent slide.

The majority of companies in the S&P 500 have been topping analysts’ profit expectations for the summer, and the hope is that they’ll report their first overall growth in a year. But several big-name companies were falling Thursday following disappointing results or forecasts for upcoming trends.

UPS sank 5.9% after cutting its forecasts for some full-year results because of uncertainty about where the global economy is heading. Investors see UPS as a window into the global economy’s strength because it ships so many products around the world.

Align Technology, which makes Invisalign systems that straighten teeth, also said an uncertain global economy may persuade potential customers to hold off. Its stock tumbled 24.9% after it reported weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter.

On the winning side of Wall Street was IBM, which rose 4.9% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 49.54 to 4,137.23. The Dow dropped 251.63 to 32,784.30, and the Nasdaq sank 225.62 to 12,595.61.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell modestly in Europe after falling more sharply in Japan and South Korea. Stocks edged higher in Shanghai.

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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The S&P 500 tumbled 1.4% for its eighth drop in the last 10 days. Some of the heaviest losses hit Big Tech stocks, which dragged the Nasdaq composite to its second-worst drop of the year so far, at 2.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 105 points, or 0.3%.

Microsoft was an outlier and rose 3.1% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the summer than analysts expected. Its movements carry extra weight on the market because it’s the second-largest company by market value.

But Alphabet was tugging the market lower even though the parent company of Google and YouTube also reported stronger profit than expected. Its stock fell 9.5% on worries about a slowdown in growth for its cloud-computing business.

Alphabet is another one of Wall Street’s biggest companies and, like Microsoft, a member of the “Magnificent Seven” group of Big Tech stocks that’s accounted for a disproportionate amount of the S&P 500’s gain this year.

Also putting heavy pressure on the stock market was a rise in Treasury yields. The 10-year yield climbed to 4.94% from 4.82% late Tuesday, which helped to send the large majority of stocks on Wall Street lower.

Rapidly rising yields have been knocking the stock market lower since the summer. The 10-year yield has been catching up to the Federal Reserve’s main interest rate, which is above 5.25% and at its highest level since 2001 as the central bank tries to get inflation under control.

The 10-year yield earlier this week hit its highest level above 5% since 2007, and high yields knock down prices for stocks and other investments while slowing the overall economy and adding pressure to the financial system.

High yields tend to most hurt stocks seen as very expensive or those requiring their investors to wait the longest for big growth. That puts the spotlight on internet-related, technology and other high-growth stocks. Besides Alphabet, sharp drops of 5.6% for Amazon, 4.3% for Nvidia and 1.3% for Apple were the heaviest weights on the S&P 500.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 60.91 points to 4,186.77. The Dow dropped 105.45 to 33,035.93, and the Nasdaq sank 318.65 to 12,821.22. The Dow held up better than other indexes because it includes Microsoft but not Alphabet.

Many investors have been hoping the Fed will soon cut rates to allow the system more oxygen. But they’ve had to consistently push out such predictions after repeated reports showing the job market remains remarkably solid. Such strength has kept the economy out of a recession but could also be adding upward pressure on inflation.

Investors banking on rate cuts may be depending on a playbook that’s become obsolete, said Bryant VanCronkhite, senior portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments. He said that may be pushing them to not take seriously enough the possibility of a global recession, which would be the result of rates left high for too long.

For decades, the Fed has come to the rescue of markets and the economy whenever trouble arose by quickly cutting interest rates. That’s because high inflation was not a problem. But now, with the trend of globalization retreating and other long-term swings pushing upward on inflation, VanCronkhite said the Fed has to worry about more than just propping up the job market.

“I think the market is still believing the U.S. Fed are a series of magicians with crystal balls that will see the problem beforehand and solve it before it becomes too serious,” he said. “I believe the Fed is under a new paradigm and will be slower to react.”

“Their focus is going to be on inflation first, economy second, in my mind. As a result, I don’t think they’ll respond quickly. In fact, I think the Fed wants a recession.”

High rates and yields have already inflicted pain on the housing market, where mortgage rates have jumped to their highest levels since 2000. The Fed’s hope is to restrain the economy enough to cool inflation, but not so much that it creates a deep recession.

A report on Wednesday said sales of new homes were stronger in September than economists expected, potentially complicating things for the Fed. Sales of new homes have been mostly recovering since hitting a bottom in the summer of 2022, with a dearth of previously occupied homes for sale pushing buyers toward new construction.

In the oil market, crude prices climbed to recover some of their sharp losses from earlier in the week. A barrel of U.S. crude rose $1.65 to settle at $85.39. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped $2.06 to $90.13 per barrel.

U.S. oil had been above $93 last month, and it’s bounced up and down since then amid concerns that the latest Israel-Hamas war could lead to disruptions in supplies from Iran or other big oil-producing countries.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were modestly higher across most of Europe and Asia.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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The S&P 500 climbed 30.64, or 0.7%, to 4,247.68 to break a five-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 204.97 points, or 0.6%, to 33,141.38, and the Nasdaq composite rose 121.55, or 0.9%, to 13,139.87.

Verizon jumped 9.3% after saying it increased its number of broadband subscribers by 20% and earned more than analysts expected during the summer.

General Electric rallied 6.5% after delivering better-than-expected earnings and raising its profit forecast for the year. Coca-Cola rose 2.9% after it said growth in Mexico, India and other markets helped drive it to better profit during the summer than analysts expected.

The pace is picking up for companies to report their results for the summer, with more than 30% of companies in the S&P 500 on the schedule for this week. The broad hope is for S&P 500 companies to report the first growth in earnings per share in a year.

Such strength is crucial for the stock market to stabilize. It’s been mostly struggling since the summer under the weight of much higher yields in the bond market.

The 10-year Treasury yield has been rising rapidly from less than 3.50% in the spring and catching up with the Federal Reserve’s main overnight interest rate, which is at its highest level since 2001. The Fed has yanked its federal funds rate above 5.25% in hopes of starving high inflation of its fuel, and it’s indicated plans to hold the rate at a high level for a while.

High yields hurt prices for stocks, cryptocurrencies and other investments. They also slow the economy bluntly and add stress for the entire financial system.

But the 10-year Treasury yield was easing Tuesday after hitting its highest level since 2007 a day before. The 10-year yield was at 4.82%, down from 4.85% late Monday. Another drop in oil prices helped to ease the pressure on inflation.

Some investors have recently begun saying yields may not have much higher to go.

“From here, our view is that we are now close to the peak in yields,” said Solita Marcelli, chief investment officer Americas of UBS Global Wealth Management.

She said that if yields were to move much higher at a quick pace, it would risk hurting the Treasury market and shake the financial system’s stability. She said the Federal Reserve could step in to help the market like it did in March, when high interest rates helped cause three high-profile collapses of U.S. banks.

To be sure, even if rates and yields climb no further, they’re still high enough that some investors are worried they’ll eventually drag the economy into a recession if the Fed holds pat.

Until now, the overall economy has remained remarkably resilient in the face of much higher interest rates. A solid job market and spending by U.S. households has helped keep the economy chugging along.

Strong data reports recently have driven expectations for the U.S. economy’s growth in the third quarter of the year sharply higher. Economists at Goldman Sachs, for example, have raised their forecast for the quarter’s growth to 4.6% from just 1.5% in mid-August.

A preliminary report on Tuesday said business activity is strengthening in October by more than economists expected. The report from S&P Global indicated demand for manufacturers improved for the first time since April.

While such strength has prevented a recession, it could also be giving inflation fuel and encouraging the Fed to keep rates high for longer. That in turn could lead to more weakness in the future.

Some warning signals are also lying within the strong run of corporate profit reports.

General Motors, for example, said it made more during the summer than analysts had forecast. But it also warned that strikes by its unionized workers are cutting sharply into its pretax earnings. GM stock fell 2.3% after drifting between gains and losses several times.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

Stocks in Shanghai added 0.8% after trading near their lowest levels in several years on worries about a slump in the property market and a slowing economy.

In the oil market, prices fell again to take some more pressure off inflation. A barrel of benchmark U.S. oil dropped $1.75 to settle at $83.74. Brent crude, the international standard, fell $1.76, to $88.07 per barrel.

U.S. oil had been above $93 last month, and it’s bounced up and down since then amid concerns that the latest Hamas-Israel war could lead to disruptions in supplies from Iran or other big oil-producing countries.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

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The S&P 500 slipped 7.12 points, or 0.2%, to 4,217.04, coming off its worst week in a month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 190.87, or 0.6%, to 32,836.41. The Nasdaq composite rose 34.52, or 0.3%, to 13,018.33.

Rapidly rising yields in the bond market have been pressuring stock prices since the summer, and they seemed set to climb further. Early Monday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly topped 5.02% to touch its highest level since 2007. That helped to torpedo stocks, and the S&P 500 quickly slumped 0.8%.

But the 10-year yield eventually eased back to 4.84%, down from with 4.91% late Friday, as oil prices tumbled to take some pressure off inflation. That relaxed the vise on the stock market.

Easier bond yields tend to most help stocks of companies promising big growth far in the future or those seen as the most expensive. That gave a particular boost to technology and other high-growth stocks.

A 3.8% jump for Nvidia and 0.8% rise for Microsoft were the two strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500. They helped limit the market’s losses, when the majority of stocks on Wall Street weakened.

As the centerpiece of the global financial system, Treasury yields help dictate how much investors pay for everything from stocks to corporate bonds to cryptocurrencies. Higher yields also make it more expensive for nearly everyone to borrow money, which puts the brakes on economic growth and adds stress to the entire financial system.

“If bond yields continue to rise relentlessly, something will eventually break,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist of Principal Asset Management. They already helped cause three high-profile failures of U.S. banks earlier this year.

The 10-year Treasury yield has been mostly climbing for a few reasons, and it’s been catching up to the overnight interest rate that the Federal Reserve has hiked furiously since early last year to try to get inflation under control. The Fed has already pulled its main rate above 5.25%, its highest level since 2001, and has pledged to keep rates high until it’s sure inflation is heading back down to its target.

One wild card for inflation has been the price of oil, which has been shaky in recent weeks amid worries about the latest Hamas-Israel war.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil tumbled $2.59 to settle at $85.49. Brent crude, the international standard, fell $2.33 to $89.83 per barrel.

U.S. oil had been above $93 last month, and it’s bounced up and down since then amid concerns that fighting in the Gaza Strip could lead to disruptions in supplies from Iran or other big oil-producing countries.

Gold’s price, meanwhile, eased after jumping last week on worries about the war. An ounce slipped $6.60 to $1,987.80 as investors felt less need to herd into investments considered safer.

Energy giant Chevron is putting some of its strength to work by buying rival Hess. Chevron said it’s swallowing up Hess in an all-stock deal valued at $53 billion. Chevron fell 3.7%, and Hess slipped 1.1%.

It’s the second huge deal in the oil-and-gas industry in as many weeks. Exxon Mobil said earlier this month that it’s buying Pioneer Natural Resources in an all-stock deal valued at $59.5 billion.

Apple rose 0.1% after recovering earlier losses, following reports that Foxconn Technology, its Taiwan-based supplier, was recently subjected to searches by Chinese tax authorities.

While worries about higher Treasury yields and the war in Gaza weigh on markets, support also remains from strength for corporate profits and the overall U.S. economy.

The majority of companies in the S&P 500 have been reporting better profits for the summer than analysts expected, as is usually the case. It’s still early days for the reporting season, but the pace picks up this week when more than 30% of the companies in the S&P 500 will report. They include General Motors, Microsoft and Amazon.

Given the breadth of companies reporting, including some Big Tech stocks that are among Wall Street’s most influential, this week could offer a better picture about how corporate America generally is faring. The earliest reports this earnings season were dominated by banks.

Economic updates this week will include a Friday report on how much U.S. households are spending and what kind of inflation they’re feeling. Strong spending by U.S. consumers has been one of the main reasons the economy has avoided a recession, but it’s also threatening to keep upward pressure on inflation.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe after falling sharply in much of Asia.

AP Writers Zimo Zhong and Matt Ott contributed.

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The S&P 500 fell 1.3% for a fourth straight drop. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 286 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 1.5%.

The stock market has been struggling under the weight of the bond market, where the yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly topped 5% late Thursday for the first time since 2007, according to Tradeweb. High yields make borrowing more expensive for everyone, and they slow the economy while dragging on prices for stocks and other investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury was hanging within a hair of 5% early Friday morning, before later easing back to 4.91%. It’s been generally catching up to the Federal Reserve’s main interest rate, which is already above 5.25% and at its highest level since 2001.

Yields swung a day earlier after investors took comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to indicate the central bank won’t raise its main interest rate at its next meeting Nov. 1. But financial markets are less sure about what the Fed will do after that, and the central bank has said its upcoming moves will depend entirely on how inflation and the job market behave.

The Fed has raised its overnight interest rate at a furious pace in hopes of suffocating high inflation, which has come down from its peak last summer. But a rise in oil prices is threatening to add more upward pressure. Crude prices remained volatile amid worries about war in the Middle East.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. oil fell 62 cents to settle at $88.75. It’s been bouncing around since the latest Hamas-Israel war began, after leaping from $70 to more than $93 during the summer. Brent crude, the international standard, slipped 22 cents to $92.16 per barrel.

Gold’s price climbed as investors herded into investments considered safer ahead of a weekend of uncertainty with the war. It rose $13.90 to settle at $1,994.40 per ounce. Last week, it jumped more than 3% heading into the weekend.

Investors are pulling so many dollars out of riskier investments, such as junk bonds and global stock funds, and holding so much cash to protect themselves that a market-sentiment reading by Bank of America is signaling “extreme bearish.” Such a reading has historically been a signal for contrarians to buy, with stock prices typically improving in the ensuing three months, strategist Michael Hartnett wrote in a BofA Global Research report.

But he also noted it hasn’t been a reliable signal when very big shocks occur, such as the period around Lehman Brothers’ collapse in 2008 or the Russia-Ukraine war early last year. Maybe a jump for oil prices above $100 or the 10-year Treasury yield shooting above 5% could act as similar very big shocks this time around.

On Wall Street, SolarEdge tumbled 27.3% after the solar technology company slashed its sales and profit expectations for the current quarter. The company blamed order cancellations in Europe due in part to slower-than-expected installation rates.

Other solar stocks also fell, including a 14.7% drop for Enphase Energy.

Regions Financial sank 12.4% after it reported weaker profit than expected for the latest quarter. Focus has been on the banking industry outside its biggest titans. It was under heavy pressure earlier this year after high interest rates helped cause three high-profile collapses of U.S. banks.

Other regional banks were also weaker. Comerica fell 8.5% despite reporting better profit for the summer than expected. Huntington Bancshares sank 3.9% after likewise topping earnings forecasts.

SLB, the giant oilfield services provider, fell 2.9% despite reporting stronger profit than expected for the summer. Its revenue fell just shy of analysts’ expectations.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Knight-Swift Transportation. The trucking company jumped 11.7% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 53.84 points to 4,224.16. The Dow dropped 286.89 to 33,127.28, and the Nasdaq fell 202.37 to 12,983.81.

In stock markets abroad, indexes slumped across Europe and Asia.

AP Business Writers Zimo Zhong and Matt Ott contributed.

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The S&P 500 lost 36.60 points, or 0.8%, to 4,278.00 following a mixed set of profit reports from Tesla and other influential companies The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 250.91, or 0.7%, to 33,414.17, and the Nasdaq composite sank 128.13, or 1%, to 13,186.18.

Stocks felt pressure from the bond market, where rapidly rising yields have been squeezing Wall Street since the summer. The yield on the 10-year Treasury touched 4.99%, up from 4.91% late Wednesday, before paring its gain to 4.98%. As the reference point for much of the financial world, the 10-year yield helps set prices for all kinds of investments and loans.

Yields swung after the Federal Reserve’s chair said again that the central bank will watch how the economy and inflation trend before making upcoming decisions on interest rates. It’s already pulled its main overnight interest rate to the highest level since 2001, and the 10-year Treasury yield has been catching up.

The 10-year yield has been on a swift march from less than 3.50% during the spring as a resilient U.S. economy forces investors to accept a new normal where the Federal Reserve likely keeps its main interest rate high for a long time.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a speech Thursday that if growth for the U.S. economy appears persistently strong, it could push the Fed to raise rates further. But he also noted the recent rise in longer-term bond yields, such as the 10-year Treasury’s, has been doing some of the Fed’s work for it by slowing the economy without requiring additional hikes.

The Fed is raising rates in hopes they result in less spending across the economy and fuel for inflation. A higher 10-year yield makes mortgages more expensive, knocks down prices for investments and makes it costlier for companies to borrow and grow.

“That’s how monetary policy works, that’s literally how it works,” Powell said about how the Fed’s tightening monetary policy has led to higher yields, which should hopefully take pressure off inflation.

Another report came Thursday to show the U.S. job market remains remarkably solid despite the much-higher rates. Fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected, which indicates low levels of layoffs across the country.

While that’s good for an economy that has defied predictions of a recession, it could also add upward pressure on inflation.

A separate report, though, said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region is weakening by more than economists expected. And a third report said sales of previously occupied homes fell last month, though not by as much as economists expected. Mortgage rates have climbed to their highest levels since 2000.

What happens next with yields and the value of the U.S. dollar will depend on whether the U.S. economy can indeed pull off what’s called a “soft landing,” where growth slows enough to snuff out inflation but not so much that it causes a bad recession. It will also depend on how sticky inflation is following that landing, according to Athanasios Vamvakidis, foreign-exchange strategist at Bank of America.

Vamvakidis wrote in a BofA Global Research report that he sees risks of yields and the dollar remaining high after the landing, even if they’re both lower than current levels.

High yields hurt all kinds of stocks, but they hit particularly hard on those bid up on expectations for big growth far in the future and those seen as very expensive. That’s often put the spotlight on Big Tech recently, and some reported a mixed set of profits.

Tesla fell 9.3% after it reported weaker results for the summer than analysts expected. It’s been cutting prices to drive sales, but that also eats into its profitability.

Zions Bancorp. tumbled 9.7% even though it reported stronger profit than expected for the latest quarter. It and other banks smaller in size than the industry’s biggest titans struggled earlier this year after high interest rates helped cause three high-profile bank failures.

On the opposite end was Netflix, which jumped 16.1%. It reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and it said it would raise prices on some of its membership levels to drive more revenue.

American Airlines rose 0.8% after reporting stronger profit than expected for the busy summer season. It had dropped sharply a day before, when United Airlines warned that high fuel prices and the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv would eat sharply into its profits at the end of the year.

Overall, analysts expect companies across the S&P 500 index to report slight growth in their earnings per share for the summer versus a year earlier. If they do, it would be the first such growth in a year.

Crude oil prices, meanwhile, rose further after erasing losses from the morning. A barrel of U.S. crude for November delivery rose $1.05 to settle at $89.37. Brent crude added 88 cents to $92.38. per barrel. A day earlier, both jumped at least $1.60 on worries that war in the Middle East could lead to disruptions of supplies.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across Europe after slumping more sharply across Asia.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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The S&P 500 sank 1.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 332 points, or 1%, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.6%.

Crude oil prices jumped sharply overnight following a deadly explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip, which sparked protests across the Middle East. Gold, meanwhile, rose as investors continue to look for safer investments following the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel by Hamas.

On Wall Street, United Airlines slumped 9.7% after it showed how big a hit to profits it may take because of surging fuel prices and the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv. It gave a profit forecast for the last three months of the year that fell well short of analysts’ expectations.

The forecast overshadowed United’s reporting a bigger profit for the summer than Wall Street had predicted. Other airlines fell in concert, with American Airlines down 4.9% and Delta Air Lines down 4.4%.

Morgan Stanley also tumbled, down 6.8%, even though it likewise reported a bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Investors focused on a weaker-than-expected showing by the company’s wealth management business, analysts said.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Procter & Gamble, the giant behind such brands as Charmin, Febreze and Oral-B. It rose 2.6% after reporting stronger profit than expected for the latest quarter. Its revenue rose after it increased prices for its products.

Nasdaq climbed 4% for one of the market’s bigger gains after reporting stronger profit than expected. It benefited from high-profile stock debuts on its trading exchange, as well as growth for its anti-financial crime business.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 58.60 to 4,314.60. The Dow dropped 332.57 to 33,665.08, and the Nasdaq sank 219.44 to 13,314.30.

The earnings reporting season for the summer is still in its early days, and the broad expectation is for S&P 500 companies to say their overall earnings per share rose last quarter for the first time in a year.

Such growth in profits is essential for the stock market to keep rising, particularly when the other big factor that drives stock prices is pushing the other way.

Treasury yields in the bond market have been on a steady march higher as investors accept a new normal where the Federal Reserve will likely keep interest rates high to get inflation under control. High rates and yields hurt prices for stocks and other investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.89% from 4.84% late Tuesday and from less than 3.50% during the spring. It topped 4.90% earlier in the day for the first time since since 2007.

Financial markets “are increasingly concerned that the next move higher could be on the cusp of 5%, and whether the broader economy is equipped to assimilate” the higher costs to raise money, said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial.

Yields have climbed as the U.S. economy has remained remarkably resilient, even after the Federal Reserve raised its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001. That strength has a large group of investors believing the Fed may pull off the balancing act of slowing the economy through high rates just enough to smother high inflation but not so much as to cause a painful recession.

Still, investors remain cautious. Global fund managers are holding more cash to protect themselves, up to 5.3% of their total portfolios in October from 4.9%, according to the latest survey by Bank of America.

A big threat for the global economy is what oil prices do to inflation amid the latest war between Hamas and Israel.

In the oil market, a barrel of U.S. crude climbed $1.66 to settle at $88.32 per barrel. It approached $90 early in the morning before paring its gain. Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.60 to $91.50 after earlier nearing $93 per barrel.

The spark for the jump was a blast at a Gaza hospital that reportedly killed hundreds. Hamas blamed it on an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military blamed a rocket misfired by members of another Palestinian militant group. President Joe Biden seemed to suggest it wasn’t Israel.

The fear in financial markets is that the war will draw in big oil-producing nations, such as Iran, and lead to disruptions of supply.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian called on Muslim nations Wednesday to launch an oil embargo on Israel after the explosion at the hospital.

Gold rose $32.60 to settle at $1,968.30 per ounce as investors looked for safer things to own.

In stock markets abroad, indexes slumped in much of Europe after ending mixed in Asia.

China reported Wednesday that its economy grew at a 4.9% annual pace from July through September. That’s down from 6.3% growth in the previous quarter but better than economists feared for the world’s second-largest economy.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott, Elaine Kurtenbach and Zen Soo contributed.

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The S&P 500 edged down by 0.43, which is well less than 0.1%, to 4,373.20 after flipping between small gains and losses through the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 13.11 points, or less than 0.1%, to 33,997.65, and the Nasdaq composite fell 34.24, or 0.3%, to 13,533.75.

Financial markets have been shaky in recent weeks due to worries about war in the Middle East and its potential impact on oil prices. But those worries have receded a bit to put the focus back on what usually drives the stock market’s long-term movements: where interest rates, the economy and corporate profits are heading.

A report on Tuesday showed shoppers spent more at U.S. retailers last month than economists expected. That’s a sign of a healthy economy and likely a result of a still-solid job market, which should help to support profits at companies.

But a too-hot economy could also give inflation more fuel and push the Fed to keep interest rates high to suffocate it. Such a move would hurt prices for stocks and other investments.

The Fed is trying to pull off a delicate balancing act where it slows the economy just enough to drive down high inflation but not so much that it causes a painful recession.

Treasury yields in the bond market rose after the release of the report. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.83% from 4.69% late Monday.

A sharp jump since the summer in the 10-year yield has weighed on the stock market, as traders increasingly accept the Fed’s forecasts that it will likely keep rates high for a long time. The central bank has already pulled its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001 and is debating whether to increase it one more time.

High rates and yields hurt prices for all kinds of stocks, and they tend to particularly hit companies bid up on expectations for growth far in the future and stocks seen as expensive. That’s often put Big Tech stocks in the spotlight, and a 4.7% drop for Nvidia and 0.9% slip for Apple were the two heaviest weights on the S&P 500.

Nvidia and other chipmakers were under extra pressure after the U.S. government broadened restrictions to stop China from acquiring advanced computer chips and the equipment to manufacture them.

Several big U.S. companies, meanwhile, were rising following their latest earnings reports.

Bank of America was helping to lead the market with a 2.3% gain after it beat Wall Street’s profit forecasts for the third quarter. It benefited from higher interest rates, but CEO Brian Moynihan also warned Americans continue to slow their spending after burning through the savings they had built up during the pandemic.

Bank of New York Mellon rose 3.8% after it also reported stronger profit than expected for the latest quarter.

The broad expectation for companies across the S&P 500 index is that profits returned to growth during the summer for the first time in a year.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts rose 9% after rival Choice Hotels International said it wants to buy the company for $90 per share in cash and stock, valuing it at $7.8 billion.

The two had earlier been talking about a possible deal, Choice CEO Patrick Pacious said, but Wyndham walked away after they were “in a negotiable range on price and consideration.”

Choice shares fell 6.8%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes generally moved modestly in Europe after rising more solidly across Asia.

Crude oil prices held somewhat steadier after swinging sharply in recent weeks on worries that war in the Middle East could lead to disruptions in supplies if it drew in Iran or other major oil-producing countries.

A barrel of U.S. crude for delivery in November was unchanged at $86.66 after bouncing between gains and losses through the day. and Brent crude, the international standard, rose 25 cents to $89.90.

“I wouldn’t say it’s in the background,” Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, said about the war in Gaza’s effect on oil traders.

“I think they’re just waiting,” he said. “That’s the worry, that infrastructure does get impacted.”

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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The S&P 500 rose 1.1% for its best day since the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel by Hamas. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 314 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.2%.

Treasury yields also climbed after falling last week on worries that fighting in Gaza will escalate. Oil prices dropped after a shaky week spurred by worries about disruptions to supplies from Iran because of the war. And the price of gold slipped as last week’s flight toward safer investments waned.

Financial markets have a history of weakening initially after a geopolitical shock, such as a war, only to reassert themselves and eventually move with corporate profits, economic growth and other long-term fundamentals, according to Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide.

“Investors should remember that markets are very resilient, have endured countless wars, recessions, and depressions, and have rewarded long-term investors with a well-crafted financial plan,” he said.

A measure of nervousness among stock investors on Wall Street fell for the first time in three days as some investors look toward what’s hoped to be a better reporting season for corporate profits. More than 50 companies in the S&P 500 will tell investors this upcoming week how much they made during the summer, including Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson and Tesla.

Charles Schwab rose 4.7% after it reported stronger profit for the three months through September than analysts expected.

The broad expectation this reporting season for companies in the S&P 500 is for the first overall growth in profit in a year, though by a small margin. Last week, several banks helped kick off the reporting season with better reports than feared.

Even though the reporting season is just getting underway, analysts have seen some encouraging signals.

Companies in the Russell 1000 index that have topped profit expectations are beating the rest of the market by a relatively high rate, according to Lori Calvasina, head of U.S. equity strategy at RBC Capital Markets. She, though, also notes that corporate executives are talking about how uncertainty around inflation and interest rates are weighing on spending.

Strategists at Bank of America, meanwhile, expect this reporting season to mark “the start of earnings recovery.” Companies usually report bigger profits than analysts are forecasting, and this quarter may see them beat by more than the usual margin, Ohsung Kwon and Savita Subramanian said in a BofA Global Research report.

A remarkably resilient U.S. economy has continued to power along, despite much higher interest rates instituted by the Federal Reserve to undercut inflation. With employers still adding jobs and U.S. households continuing to spend, even if they’ve become more discerning because of high inflation, earnings per share at S&P 500 companies likely rose 0.4% last quarter from a year earlier, according to FactSet.

On Wall Street, shares of Lululemon jumped 10.3% in their first trading after S&P Dow Jones Indices said the apparel company will join its widely tracked S&P 500 index. It’s replacing Activision Blizzard, which was bought by Microsoft.

Pfizer rose 3.6% after it announced a cost-cutting program that it said will save at least $1 billion in 2023. The pharmaceutical giant also said its COVID products will make $9 billion less in revenue over this year than it earlier expected.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 45.85 points to 4,373.63. The Dow gained 314.25 to 33,984.54, and the Nasdaq climbed 160.75 to 13,567.98.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.71% from 4.62% late Friday.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.03 to settle at $86.66. It has been bouncing up and down since barreling from $70 during the summer to more than $90 late last month.

Brent crude, the international standard, dropped $1.24 to $89.65 per barrel.

Gold fell $7.20 to settle at $1,934.30 per ounce. Last week was its best in nearly seven months as worries climbed ahead of a possible invasion by Israel of northern Gaza.

In stock markets abroad, indexes tumbled across much of Asia but rose modestly in Europe.

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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