Wall Street drifts around its record while the dollar’s value stabilizes
By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is drifting around its all-time high on Wednesday, while the U.S. dollar’s value stabilizes against other currencies after falling to its lowest level in nearly four years.
The S&P 500 edged up by 0.1%, coming off its latest record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 63 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% higher.
Some Big Tech companies helped support the market following an encouraging report from ASML. The Dutch company, whose machinery helps make chips, gave a forecast for 2026 revenue that topped analysts’ expectations.
ASML’s customers have been notably more encouraged about the medium term, CEO Christophe Fouquet said, mostly because of expectations for “the sustainability” of demand related to the artificial-intelligence boom. That helped allay some concerns that the AI frenzy has gone overboard and created a potential bubble that may burst.
Nvidia, the stock that’s become the poster child of the AI boom, climbed 1.7% and was the strongest single force lifting the S&P 500. ASML’s stock that trades in the United States swung from an early gain to a drop of 1%.
Stocks elsewhere in the market were mixed following the latest flurry of profit reports.
Seagate Technology jumped 16.8% for one of the market’s biggest gains after the seller of hard drives and other data-storage products reported bigger profit and revenue than analysts expected. CEO Dave Mosley cited AI applications for its strong performance, among other things.
Starbucks climbed 5.3% after its revenue for the latest quarter topped analysts’ expectations, thanks in part to a viral bear cup. That was even though its profit for the end of 2025 fell short of analysts’ targets.
Elevance Health rose 4.9% after reporting a stronger profit than analysts expected. That helped it recover some of its stock’s 14.3% sell-off from the prior day, when it and other health insurers got walloped by a proposed rate increase for Medicare Advantage by the U.S. government that fell well short of what investors hoped.
But Amphenol’s stock tumbled 12.8% even though the maker of fiber-optic connectors and other high-tech equipment reported stronger growth in profit and revenue for the end of 2025 than analysts had forecast. Expectations were high for the company after its stock came into the day with an already big surge of 23% for the young year so far.
Companies across the market are under pressure to deliver solid growth in profits following the record-setting runs for their stock prices. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term, and earnings need to rise to quiet criticism that stock prices have grown too expensive.
Apple slipped 0.7% ahead of its profit report coming on Thursday, and it was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500.
In the foreign-currency market, the U.S. dollar found some stability and was up against the British pound, Japanese yen and others. A day earlier, an index measuring the U.S. dollar’s value against several of its peers dropped to its weakest level since early 2022.
The dollar’s value has been generally falling since President Donald Trump entered the White House last year, and its descent accelerated after Trump threatened tariffs earlier this month against several European countries that he said opposed his taking control of Greenland.
Such threats, along with worries about risks like the U.S. government’s heavy debt, have periodically pushed global investors to step away from U.S. markets, a move that’s come to be called “Sell America.”
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady ahead of an announcement coming in the afternoon from the Federal Reserve on interest rates. The widespread expectation is that it will hold its main interest rate steady.
The Fed cut rates several times last year in hopes of shoring up the job market, but inflation remains stubbornly above its 2% target. Lower interest rates could worsen inflation while giving the economy a boost.
Lower interest rates could also further undercut the U.S. dollar’s value, which would help U.S. exporters. Trump has been pushing aggressively for lower rates.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury inched up to 4.25% from 4.24% late Tuesday.
As global investors have stepped away from the U.S. dollar due to political instability and other worries, prices have surged for gold and other metals as investors searched for something safer to own. Gold’s price topped $5,000 per ounce this week for the first time, and it added another 3.5% to $5,258.70.
In stock markets abroad, indexes sank in Europe following better performances in Asia.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.7% to another record, thanks in part to a 5.1% leap for chip company SK Hynix, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rallied 2.6%.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.