Stock market today: Wall Street momentum slows as US stocks drift

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes drift Thursday following a mixed set of earnings reports from Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth Group and other large companies.

The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in late trading after oscillating between small gains and losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 26 points, or 0.1%, with about an hour of trading remaining, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.3%.

Stocks saw more modest moves after pull higher the day before, we hope that a encouraging report on inflation can convince the The Federal Reserve will do more lower interest rates this year. Treasury yields were also calmer in the bond market after mixed economic reports on Thursday.

A report showed growth in sales of American retailers was not as strong last month as economists expected. Another said more U.S. workers had filed unemployment benefits last week, and a third said manufacturing in the middle of the Atlantic unexpectedly, the region returned to growth.

Taken together, these three reports suggest that the U.S. economy is far from being in recession, but may be showing signs of a slowdown that could ease inflationary pressures. Markets wobbled down And up in recent weeks, the economic situation reports force traders to revise their expectations on what the Federal Reserve could do with interest rates in 2025.

While the reports eased concerns about inflation, expectations rose for possible rate cuts. This has generally led to lower Treasury yields and higher stock prices. When inflation emerges as a bigger problem, whether due to a still-strong economy or possible policies of President-elect Donald Trump, Treasury yields have risen and stock prices have tended to fall.

On Thursday, yields eased slightly. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.60% from 4.66% Wednesday evening. It was at 4.79% on Tuesday.

The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed’s next moves, slipped to 4.23%, from 4.27% late Wednesday and 4.37% two days ago.

However, Treasury yields remain higher than they were last fall. And higher yields can put downward pressure on stock prices unless companies earn higher profits to offset that.

On Wall Street, Morgan Stanley climbed 3.2% after announcing results for the last quarter that were higher than those expected by analysts. CEO Ted Pick said the investment bank improved during the quarter. Strong financial markets also helped total client assets reach $7.9 trillion across its wealth management and investment businesses.

This followed better-than-expected results released the day before by a slew of banks, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo.

Bank of America also released an earnings report Thursday that beat expectations, but its action was more subdued. It fell 1.9%.

For its part, US Bancorp recorded one of the worst losses in the S&P 500 index after publishing results for the last quarter that did not meet analysts’ expectations. It fell 6.3%.

UnitedHealth Group also fell 5.5% on Wall Street. The insurer reported a higher-than-expected profit, but its revenue for the latest quarter was lower than expected. A rise in medical costs surprised analysts.

This was the company’s first financial report since filming from one of its executives outside a New York hotel early last month.

Tesla fell 3.5% following the announcement of discounts on its Cybertruck, the latest sign that Elon Musk’s company is struggling to attract buyers. sales of its electric vehicle models decline for the first time in a dozen years.

In foreign stock markets, indexes were higher in much of Europe and Asia. France’s CAC 40 jumped 2.1%, South Korea’s Kospi 1.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 1.2%, some of the biggest gains.

Taiwanese computer chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor announced Thursday that its profit in the last quarter jumped 57%. The world’s largest semiconductor maker – which finds itself in the middle of a trade and technology conflict between the United States and China – said its results were propelled by the boom in artificial intelligence.

Its U.S.-traded stock rose 4.8%.

___

AP Business writers Yuri Kageyama, M,att Ott and Bernard Condon contributed.