NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The U.S. stock market is drifting toward the brink of another record.
The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher in early trading and just 0.5% below its all-time high, which was set in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 207 points, or 0.5%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% higher.
McCormick, the seller of cooking spices, helped lead the way and rallied 5.3% after delivering a better-than-expected profit report. The company also gave a forecast for profit over its full fiscal year that topped analysts鈥� expectations, including planned efforts to offset increased costs caused by .
Over the longer term, it's been big technology stocks that have led the market for years and since the S&P 500 during the spring on worries about tariffs.
Micron Technology, which sells computer memory and data storage, rose 0.3% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said it鈥檚 seeing growing memory demand driven by artificial intelligence, and the company gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that topped analysts鈥� expectations.
Chip company , which has been the poster child of the AI frenzy, added 0.5% to bring its gain for the year to 15.3%. It鈥檚 the most valuable company in the U.S. stock market.
Wall Street鈥檚 worries about Trump鈥檚 tariffs have receded since the president shocked the world in April with stiff proposed levies, but they have not disappeared. The wait is still on to see how big the tariffs will ultimately be, how much they will hurt the economy and how much they will push up inflation.
The economy so far seems to be holding up OK, and more reports arrived on Thursday bolstering that. One said that orders for washing machines and other manufactured goods that last at least three years grew by more last month than economists expected. A second said last week, a signal of fewer layoffs.
A third report said the during the first three months of 2025 than earlier estimated. But many economists say those numbers got distorted by how many U.S. companies rushed early this year to buy foreign products ahead of tariffs, and they鈥檙e expecting better growth in upcoming months.
Following the reports, Treasury yields swiveled up and down in the bond market, but they ultimately did not move very much.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.26% from 4.29% late Wednesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do, edged down to 3.73% from 3.74%.
Analysts said yields may be feeling downward pressure because of a report from The Wall Street Journal saying Trump could name his nominee to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell unusually early, in an attempt to undermine him.
Powell has been repeating recently that the how tariffs will affect the economy before deciding when to resume cutting interest rates. It has been because lower rates can help give inflation more fuel, along with giving the economy a boost.
Trump, though, has been adamant about wanting cuts to rates sooner and has insulted Powell repeatedly. Two of his that they would consider cutting rates as soon as the Fed鈥檚 next meeting in about a month.
鈥淵ields fell, the dollar weakened, and break evens rose, all suggesting that a puppet of the White House in the seat of the Chair could be bad for inflation,鈥� said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. But Jacobsen said decisions on interest rates would still rest with a committee of Fed officials, not just the chair, and other officials could possibly keep the new leader 鈥渋n check if needed.鈥�
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across much of Europe and Asia.
Japan鈥檚 Nikkei 225 rose 1.6%, and South Korea鈥檚 Kospi fell 0.9% for two of the bigger moves.
In the oil market, which has been the center of much of this week鈥檚 action, crude prices made up a bit more ground after plunging by roughly $10 per barrel earlier this week. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 1% to $65.55, though it still remains below where it was when Israel鈥檚 war with Iran began.
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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Stan Choe, The Associated Press
