Wall Street nears record highs as Tesla's surge offsets Nvidia's fall

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted near record highs Tuesday in a quiet day on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 index was up 0.1% in afternoon trading, just below its all-time high set two weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 62 points, or 0.2%, as of 12:56 p.m. ET, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.3% to its record high set a day earlier.

Tesla jumped 8.8% to help lead the market after the electric vehicle maker announced a more moderate decline in sales for the spring than expected by analysts.

But losses for some important and influential actions compensated for this jump. Nvidia, which became the poster child of the rush to artificial intelligence technology, fell 1.1% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. Eli Lily fell 1.8% after President Joe Biden said in an opinion piece for USA Today that the company was charging unreasonably high prices for its weight-loss and diabetes treatment.

In the bond market, Treasury yields fell after investors factored in comments from the head of the Federal Reserve as a signal that it could proceed with interest rate cuts later this year. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, whose remarks are always closely scrutinized for clues about rates, gave a nod to improving inflation data after disappointing figures earlier this year.

We just want to understand that the levels we are seeing are a true reading of underlying inflation, he said.

The hope on Wall Street is that inflation will slow enough for the Fed to cut its key interest rate, which is at its highest level in more than two decades and is holding back the economy. Treasury yields have been falling since April, bolstering hopes of such a slowdown.

A Tuesday report Hopes may have been dashed by these results. U.S. employers reported more job openings at the end of May than economists expected, and slightly more than economists expected. April review. While the abundant job openings are great news for workers, the fear on Wall Street is that too strong a policy the job market will exert upward pressure on inflation and force delays in rate cuts.

After falling on Powell's comments, Treasury yields pared losses after the payrolls report. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was 4.45%, down from 4.46% late Monday.

Treasury yields have also come under some upward pressure from recent policy. Last week's debate Tensions between Biden and former President Donald Trump have traders angling for a Republican victory in November, pushing Treasury yields higher, partly because of the possibility of policies that would further increase U.S. government debt.

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The 10-year yield is still well above its 4.29% level of Thursday evening, before the debate.

On the commodities markets, the barrel of American crude, the global benchmark, remained stable after reaching its highest price since April. Brent, the international benchmark, gained 0.2%.

Crude prices rose on expectations of strong demand during the summer, as well as the possibility of hurricanes damaging oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Beryl is roaring along a path that would take it near Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

On foreign stock markets, European indices fell after a report showing inflation in the region The German stock market index remains stuck above the level hoped for by the European Central Bank. The German DAX lost 0.7% and the French CAC 40 fell by 0.3%.

The day before, French stocks had advanced after the election results suggested a Far-right political party may fail to secure decisive majority in the country's legislative elections. This has raised the possibility of a French government blockade, which would prevent the worst-case scenario where a far-right with a clear majority could put pressure policies that would significantly increase the French government's debt.

It's a big year for elections worldwide, with voters in the UK go to the polls later this week

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 index gained 1.1% after the yen fell again to near a 38-year low. When the yen is weak, it can boost Japanese exporters.

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AP reporters Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed to this report.