Wall Street coasts toward the finish of another record-setting week

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is coasting toward the finish of its latest record-setting week on Friday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and was on track to close out its sixth winning week in the last seven. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 129 points, or 0.3%, as of 1:01 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

All three hit all-time highs the day before, as did the small stocks in the Russell 2000 index, which finally surpassed its prior record set in 2021. Stocks have been rallying on expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue to cut interest rates in order to give the economy a boost after it lowered them for the first time this year on Wednesday.

FedEx helped support the market after delivering stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It rose 3.2%, thanks in part to strength for its domestic package business.

Newmont rose 4.1% after the gold miner sold its investment in Canada’s Orla Mining for $439 million. It added to a stellar run, and Newmont’s stock has more than doubled so far this year as the price of gold has shot to records.

Gold has benefited from expectations for lower interest rates, along with worries about high inflation and the potential that mountains of debt for the U.S. and other governments could make their currencies worth less.

Lennar dropped 3.9% after the homebuilder reported weaker revenue for its latest quarter than analysts expected, even though its profit topped forecasts. Executive Chairman Stuart Miller pointed to “the continued pressures of today’s housing market” and said Lennar had to offer additional incentives to entice customers to buy homes, which dragged down the average sales price.

Easier interest rates could give the struggling housing market a boost, and mortgage rates have already come down in expectation of a rate-cutting campaign by the Fed.

Lower rates could also tamp down widespread criticism that the broad U.S. stock market has become too expensive after prices rose so quickly. But expectations have grown so strong for coming cuts to rates that the stock market may be set for a sharp drop if the Fed does not cut as much as expected.

Fed officials did indicate earlier this week that more cuts to rates may be on the way this year and next. They’re hoping to give support to the job market, which has slowed and made it more difficult for U.S. workers to find new positions.

But Fed Chair Jerome Powell also warned Wednesday that the central bank is in a precarious position and may have to change course quickly. That’s because the economy is in an unusual situation where inflation is remaining stubbornly high at the same time that the job market is slowing. And President Donald Trump’s tariffs are threatening to push inflation higher, at least temporarily.

The Fed is in charge of fixing both high inflation and a weak job market, but it has only one tool to do so. And helping one by moving interest rates often hurts the other in the short term.

Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, warns that the stock market could become shakier following its recent glide to records as “the economy slows, tariff impacts arrive piecemeal and political uncertainties continue.”

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% after the Bank of Japan said it will sell some of its massive trove of Japanese stock funds. It also held interest rates steady.

Chinese indexes finished mixed ahead of a phone call between Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping that the U.S. president said afterward was productive. The leaders of the world’s two largest economies agreed to meet at a regional summit to take place at the end of October in South Korea.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were relatively stable. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.13% from 4.11% late Thursday.