US stocks drift as S&P 500 flirts with its first drop in 7 days
NEW YORK AP U S stock indexes are drifting on Tuesday as momentum slows for Wall Street after it rallied from a deep hole nearly all the way back to its all-time high set earlier this year The S P was down in early trading but still within of its record The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down points or as of a m Eastern time and the Nasdaq composite was lower Treasury yields drifted higher in the bond realm while the value of the U S dollar was relatively stable against other currencies following a brief jolt Monday morning after Moody s Ratings commented the U S executive no longer deserves a top-tier credit rating because of worries about its spiraling debt Stocks of companies in the excursion industry fell to specific of the arena s worst losses as doubts continue about how much U S households will be able to spend on vacations Norwegian Cruise Line fell Carnival lost and MGM Resorts dropped Home Depot added after it released better revenue than analysts expected for the start of the year though its profit came up just short of forecasts Perhaps more importantly for Wall Street the home-improvement retailer also disclosed it s sticking with its forecasts for profit and sales development over the full year That s counter to a growing number of companies which have just now declared tariffs and uncertainty about the economic system are making it arduous to guess what the upcoming year will bring President Donald Trump has launched stiff tariffs against trading partners only to delay or roll a great number of of them back Traders are hopeful that Trump will eventually lower his tariffs after reaching deal deals with other countries but that s not a certainty Target and Home Depot rival Lowe s will overview their latest results on Wednesday In the bond region the yield on the -year Treasury rose to from late Monday The two-year yield which more closely tracks expectations for action by the Federal Reserve edged up to from Concern still remains that Trump s tariffs could push the U S economic activity into a recession even if it s held up OK for the time being If a recession does happen the U S ruling body may have less room to offer backing for the financial market through big spending plans or direct stimulus checks to households than in prior downturns That s because the U S governing body s debt is so much higher now and it could be set to get even bigger with Washington debating more cuts to taxes as Moody s cited in its downgrade If the U S regime can t offer as much fiscal backing for the financial market that could make the next recession deeper and last longer according to James Egelhof chief U S economist and other strategists at BNP Paribas That could put more pressure on the Federal Reserve to prop up the financial market by itself through lower interest rates Other central banks around the world have already begun cutting interest rates China s central bank made its first cut to its loan prime rates in seven months in a move welcomed by investors eager for more stimulus as the world s second-largest financial market feels the pinch of Trump s higher tariffs Tuesday s cuts seemingly won t be the last this year Zichun Huang of Capital Economics commented in a overview The Reserve Bank of Australia reduced its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage for a second time this year to judging inflation to be within its target range The earlier reduction in February was Australia s first rate cut since October Following the cuts stock indexes rose across much of the world Hong Kong s Hang Seng jumped for one of the bigger gains Shares in China s CATL the world s largest maker of electric batteries jumped in its Hong Kong trading debut after it raised about billion in the world s largest IPO this year Its shares traded in Shenzhen mainland China s smaller share sector after Shanghai gained after dipping earlier in the day AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed Source
