NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting around a record on Thursday amid a relatively quiet day on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 was 0.1% higher in midday trading and on track to squeak past its all-time high set early last month after coming close the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 257 points, or 0.6%, as of 12:05 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was edging 0.3% lower.
The calm trading came amid relatively modest moves for Treasury yields in the U.S. bond market. Big swings there in recent months have been shaking the stock market, particularly when rising worries about inflation and the U.S. government’s heavy debt have sent Treasury yields higher.
Treasury yields took another turn higher after President Donald Trump began talking about the prospect of tariffs at the World Economic Forum, saying products made outside of the United States will have to pay a tariff, but they quickly eased after he gave few details. Crude prices also eased by nearly 1% after Trump called on oil-producing countries to reduce the price of crude.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.65% from 4.61% late Wednesday, though it remains below its high from earlier this month. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed’s action, eased to 4.28% from 4.30% late Wednesday.
Yields earlier in the day had also held relatively steady after a report showed slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. While the numbers were an increase, “they were well within the modest range established in recent months,” according to Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley. “Employment continues to highlight US economic outperformance.”
Traders don’t expect the report to push the Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate at its upcoming meeting next week, according to data from CME Group. If they’re correct, it would be the first time the Fed hasn’t lowered the federal funds rate since it began doing so in September to ease pressure off the U.S. economy. Lower rates can goose prices for investments, but they can also give inflation more fuel.
On Wall Street, GE Aerospace flew 7.2% higher after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, which split off from General Electric with two other companies last year, said orders for its airplane engines and services jumped 50% from a year earlier to $12.9 billion.
Netflix was another one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500. It rose another 2.6% after jumping 9.7% the day before following a better-than-expected profit report.