NEW YORK (AP) — Tesla gained and helped propel the U.S. stock market to new records Tuesday.
The S&P 500 index rose 0.6%, topping its all-time high set two weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 162 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.8% to its own record set the day before.
Tesla led the way with a 10.2% gain after the electric vehicle maker announced a more moderate decline in sales for spring than analysts expected. Modest gains for others important and influential actions also helped push the market higher, with Apple up 1.6%.
Stocks benefited from lower Treasury yields after the head of the Federal Reserve Investors interpreted the comments as a signal that interest rates could be cut later in the year. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, whose comments are always carefully scrutinized for disappointing rate indicators, welcomed the improvement in inflation data after disappointing readings 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 to convince 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 fallen sharply since April on hopes of such a cut.
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 4.42%, down from 4.46% late Monday.
The most anticipated economic data of the week will come on Friday, when the U.S. government releases the total number of jobs employers created during the month of June. Before that, the U.S. stock market will have a shortened trading day on Wednesday and a holiday on Thursday for the Fourth of July.
Treasury yields have recently come under some upward pressure from politics. Last week's debate Tensions between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have traders making decisions in anticipation of a possible Republican victory in November. That has led to a rise in Treasury yields, in part because of the possibility of policies that would further increase U.S. government debt.
The 10-year yield is still well above its 4.29% level of Thursday evening, before the debate.
In commodity markets, benchmark U.S. oil prices eventually edged lower after hitting their highest price since April earlier in the morning.
Crude prices rose largely 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 roars across the Caribbean.
The drop in crude prices on Tuesday pushed down inventories at oil and gas producers, with Exxon Mobil falling 0.7%.
Nvidia, one of the year's top stocks, also helped slow Wall Street's gains. The company fell 1.3%, but is still up nearly 147.7% year-to-date.
Eli Lilly fell 0.8% and U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk fell 1.7% after President Biden criticized in an opinion piece for USA Today the prices companies charge for their weight-loss and diabetes drugs.
Overall, the S&P 500 rose 33.92 points to 5,509.01. The Dow gained 162.33 points to 39,331.85 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 149.46 points to 18,028.76.
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 again edged close to its lowest level in 38 years. When the yen is weak, it can boost the fortunes of Japanese exporters.
AP reporters Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed to this report.
