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US Stocks Edge Toward Record Week's End10/09 09:35
Financial markets remain indecisive on Friday, as the U.S. stock market
tiptoes toward the finish of a record-setting week.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Financial markets remain indecisive on Friday, as the U.S.
stock market tiptoes toward the finish of a record-setting week.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and clawed back some of its two straight days of
losses since setting its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up
158 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite
was 0.3% higher.
The moves were tentative as oil prices continue to yo-yo because of
uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry
to return to normal. The price for a barrel of Brent crude bounced between
$102.50 and $104 several times overnight and in the morning, and it was most
recently at $103.89, down 0.4%.
Treasury yields flipped up and down in the bond market following their own
sharp moves earlier in the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was most
recently at 5.26%, up from 5.22% late Thursday.
It recently touched its highest level since 2002 because of worries about
high inflation, the U.S. government's massive debt load, signals that the U.S.
economy is continuing to grow and other factors.
High yields threaten to slow the economy by making borrowing money more
expensive for everyone, and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has already
leaped to its highest level in nearly three years.
Yields are also shooting higher in other bond markets around the world,
which make investors less willing to pay high prices for stocks and other
investments. But the high yields have also attracted investors to buy Treasurys
at recent auctions, and that demand is helping to limit further increases for
yields.
On Wall Street, Humana rallied 11.7% to help lead the market after the
insurer said it received encouraging data about its quality ratings versus its
competitors for Medicare Advantage plans.
Companies that own cell towers were close behind, including leaps of 10.2%
for Crown Castle and 7% for American Tower.
They rallied after SpaceX announced a purchase that could help it become a
major mobile carrier in the United States. It still needs to get approval from
U.S. regulators, but SpaceX said the purchase of low-band spectrum would allow
its Starlink Mobile business to have a signal that can penetrate walls and
connect customers inside buildings who may not be able to access its
satellites. SpaceX's stock rose 1.4%
The threat of another big competitor sent stocks lower across the wireless
industry, including drops of 9.7% for T-Mobile US, 6.85% for AT&T and 5.4% for
Verizon.
Delta Air Lines lost 1.5% after reporting weaker profit and revenue for the
summer than analysts expected. CEO Ed Bastian said demand remains strong and
customers want to fly, but the airline is also having to absorb a $6 billion
increase in fuel costs this year.
The pressure is on companies to deliver strong growth in profits after their
prices ran toward records despite the downward push on them from high yields in
the bond market. Next week will bring high-profile profit reports from the
country's biggest banks.
Expectations are high for corporate profits, even as Americans say they're
feeling more squeezed by high inflation. A preliminary report from the
University of Michigan said Friday that U.S. consumers are raising their own
forecasts for how bad inflation will be over the coming year.
They're expecting inflation of 4.7%, up from their forecast of 4.6% a month
ago and just 3.4% in February before the war with Iran began. Sentiment among
consumers is falling sharply for Americans with lower incomes and smaller
investments in stocks, who can least afford the fast increases in the cost of
living.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rallied in Europe with gains of at least 1%
in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Asian markets were more mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 finished nearly unchanged,
while Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.8%.
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