NEW YORK (AP) โ U.S. stocks closed out their latest winning week on Friday, as Nvidia stock continued to cool after its surprising supernova run.
The S&P 500 fell 0.2%, but remained near its all-time high set on Tuesday and capped its eighth winning week in the last nine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15 points, or less than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%.
Nvidia dragged the market again after falling 3.2%. The company's shares have soared more than 1,000% since October 2022 due to frenetic demand for its chips, which are driving much of the global movement towards artificial intelligence technology, and this week it briefly supplanted Microsoft as the company most valuable on Wall Street.
But nothing goes up forever, and Nvidia's declines over the past two days sent its stock to its first losing week in the last nine.
Much of the rest of Wall Street was relatively quiet, save for a few outliers.
Sarepta Therapeutics jumped 30.1% after U.S. regulators approved its drug for use in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who are at least 4 years old.
Gunmaker Smith & Wesson Brands fell 12.9% despite reporting stronger fourth-quarter earnings than analysts expected. Summer is traditionally a slower season for firearms, according to CEO Mark Smith.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group recovered from an early loss and rose 3.4% to trim its loss for the week to 25.3%. The company behind Donald Trump's Truth Social platform had seen its stock drop nearly in half since the former president's conviction in late May on charges of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a payment of money to maintain his silence to a porn actor who said the two had sexual relations. .
In total, the S&P 500 fell 8.55 points to 5,464.62. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15.57 to 39,150.33 and the Nasdaq composite fell 32.23 to 17,689.36.
In the bond market, U.S. Treasury yields initially fell after a report suggested that business activity among countries that use the euro is weaker than economists expected. There are already major concerns on the continent ahead of a French election that could further shake financial markets.
The weak business activity report dragged down yields in Europe, initially putting pressure on Treasury yields. But U.S. yields recovered much of those losses after another report said later in the morning that U.S. business activity could be stronger than thought.
Overall output growth hit a 26-month high, according to S&P Global's preliminary reading of activity among U.S. manufacturing and services companies. Perhaps most importantly for Wall Street, that strength may be occurring without a simultaneous increase in inflation pressure.
"Historical comparisons indicate that the latest decline brings the survey's price indicator in line with the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation target," according to Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The Federal Reserve is in a precarious situation, where it is trying to slow the economy through high interest rates enough to get inflation back down to 2%. The trick is that you want to cut interest rates at exactly the right time. If you wait too long, a slowing economy could lead to a recession. If it's too soon, inflation could accelerate again.
There is still hope among traders that the Federal Reserve can achieve this, with many predicting at least two interest rate cuts later this year, according to data from CME Group. Of course, his predictions have proven overly optimistic throughout history.
Federal Reserve officials themselves have planned one or two cuts in 2024 to their main interest rate, which has remained at its highest level in more than two decades. The economy continues to grow, although it has recently slowed under the weight of high rates. Housing and manufacturing have been especially hard hit, as low-income households struggle to keep up with prices that continue to rise.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.25% from 4.26% late Thursday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, fell to 4.73% from 4.74%.
In overseas stock markets, European stocks fell following weak continental economic reports, and many Asian indices also fell. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.7% and South Korea's Kospi fell 0.8%.
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AP Business writers Yuri Kageyama and Alex Veiga contributed.
