Stock market today: Wall Street hangs around its records after the fall in European stocks

NEW YORK (AP) U.S. stocks held around record highs Friday as Wall Street remained relatively calm after another decline in Europe.

The S&P 500 edged down less than 0.1%, marking the first time this week it didn't hit an all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 57 points, or 0.1%, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.1% to its record set the day before thanks to gains in technology stocks.

Losses were greater across the Atlantic, where markets were shaken by the results of recent elections in Europe. The victories of far-right parties have particularly increased pressure on the French president, and investors fear it could weaken the European Union, block budget plans and ultimately harm France's ability to pay its bills. debt. Recent elections have also shaken markets in Mexico, India and elsewhere.

France's CAC 40 index fell 2.7% to take its weekly loss to 6.2%, its worst in more than two years. The German DAX lost 1.4%.

On Wall Street, RH fell 17.1% after reporting a loss for the latest quarter that was worse than expected by financial analysts. The home furnishings seller called this real estate market the toughest in three decades.

High mortgage rates have hurt the housing market as the Federal Reserve kept its main interest rate at the highest level in more than two decades. The central bank intentionally slows the economy by charging high interest rates in hopes of starving inflation of its fuel.

Cruise ship operators were among the market's biggest losers after Bank of America analysts reported a slowdown in travel price trends. Norwegian Cruise Line fell 7.5%, the worst loss in the S&P 500, and Carnival fell 7.1%.

Still, stocks set records as hopes grew that inflation would slow enough to convince the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates later this year. Meanwhile, big tech stocks continue to advance almost independently of developments in the economy and interest rates.

Adobe jumped 14.5% after announcing a profit for the last quarter that was higher than expected by analysts.

Broadcom rose 3.3% for a second straight day of gains after reporting better-than-expected earnings and a 10-up stock split to make its price more affordable. Nvidia gained 1.8% as the poster child of the artificial intelligence technology rush sees its total market value climb even further above $3 trillion.

Nvidia has been the most powerful force pushing the S&P 500 higher, as has become almost routine recently. Adobe and Broadcom followed closely behind.

Overall, the S&P 500 fell 2.14 points to 5,431.60. The Dow lost 57.94 to 38,589.16 and the Nasdaq composite added 21.32 to 17,688.88.

In the bond market, U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly after a preliminary report from the University of Michigan suggested that U.S. consumer confidence had not improved this month, contrary to economists' expectations.

Robust U.S. household spending was one of the main drivers that helped the economy escape recession, but personal finance ratings declined, driven by slightly growing concerns about rising prices as well as of weakening income, according to Joanne Hsu, director of investigations. Consumers.

Perhaps more importantly for financial markets, expectations of future inflation among U.S. consumers do not appear to be changing much, even though they are relatively high. It's an encouraging signal that the economy could avoid a self-fulfilling cycle in which expectations of higher inflation lead to behavior that creates more.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.21% from 4.25% Thursday evening. It had reached 4.60% at the end of last month, before some encouraging reports on inflation.

In foreign stock markets, indices were mixed in Asia. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.2% after the country's central bank kept interest rates steady.

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AP Business Editor Yuri Kageyama contributed.