Most of Wall Street climbs on encouraging inflation report, but Big Tech slumps

NEW YORK â€”  Most U.S. stocks rose Thursday after the latest update on inflation bolstered Wall Street’s belief that relief on interest rates may come as soon as September.

Four in 5 stocks in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed, though pullbacks for Nvidia, Microsoft and a handful of other highly influential companies masked that underlying strength. Those giants have been the market’s biggest winners amid a frenzy around artificial intelligence technology, causing critics to say they had become too pricey, and they helped drag the S&P 500 down 0.9% from its all-time high set a day before.

The drops for Big Tech stocks also pulled the Nasdaq composite down 2% from its own record. The drops broke seven-day winning streaks for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite. The Dow Jones industrial average, which has less of an emphasis on tech, rose 32 points, or 0.1%.

The direction was decidedly upward for the majority of stocks on Wall Street, particularly housing-related companies, real estate owners and others that benefit from easier interest rates. SBA Communications, which owns towers and other sites used for wireless communications infrastructure, jumped 7.5% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500.

Smaller companies that have lagged behind the market’s behemoths for a while were also strong, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks leaped 3.6% to lead the market decisively. The shift is encouraging to some market watchers, who see it as healthier when more stocks are participating in a rising market instead of just an elite, overpowered 1%.

The day’s action was even stronger in the bond market, where yields tumbled as traders built bets for the Federal Reserve to soon begin lowering its main interest rate. It’s been sitting for nearly a year at its highest level in more than two decades.

Wall Street wants lower interest rates to release pressure that’s built up on the economy because of how expensive it’s become to borrow money to buy houses, cars or anything on credit cards. Fed officials, though, have been saying they want to see “more good data� on inflation before making a move.

Wall Street saw Thursday’s report, which showed milder price increases than expected from a year earlier for gasoline, cars and other things U.S. consumers bought during June, as providing just that.

“One word: pivotal,� said Lindsay Rosner, head of multi-sector investing within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. “With three inflation prints between this morning and September’s Fed meeting, today’s print was crucial in helping the Fed gain confidence inflation is still moving in the right direction.�

After the report’s release, Treasury yields tumbled immediately. The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 4.20% from 4.28% late Wednesday and from 4.70% in April. That’s a major move for the bond market and provides a big lift for stock prices.

Lower yields helped real estate owners and utilities lead the way in the stock market. Falling bond yields make those stocks’ relatively high dividends more attractive to investors seeking income.

Real estate investment trusts in the S&P 500, including SBA Communications, jumped 2.7% for the biggest gain among the 11 sectors that make up the index. Utility stocks were close behind with a gain of 1.8%.

Home builders were also strong on hopes that lower mortgage rates will juice the industry. D.R. Horton climbed 7.3%, and Lennar rose 6.9% for some of the biggest gains in the S&P 500. Mohawk Industries, which makes flooring for homes, jumped 7.4%.

Besides hopes for coming cuts to interest rates, expectations for strong profit growth have also pushed the U.S. stock market to its records. Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to deliver their best overall growth in more than two years this coming reporting season, according to FactSet, but it’s getting off to a mixed start.

Delta Air Lines lost 4% after reporting slightly weaker revenue and profit for the spring than analysts expected. The airline said demand is strong for summer travel, but it also gave a profit forecast for the current quarter that fell short of Wall Street’s estimates.

Tesla fell 8.4% to give back some of the gains from an 11-day romp in which the electric vehicle maker’s stock had soared 44%. It and all the other stocks in the group that’s come to be known as the “Magnificent Seven� fell for the day.

Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla have been behind the bulk of the S&P 500’s returns for more than a year because their fortunes seemed to rise regardless of the economy’s strength or where interest rates were.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 49.37 points to 5,584.54. The Dow rose 32.39 points to 39,753.75, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 364.04 points to 18,283.41.

In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.9% to set another all-time high. Indexes were also strong across much of the rest of Asia and Europe.

Choe writes for the Associated Press