Financial Markets                      05/14 15:27

   

   Stocks drifted to a mixed close on Wall Street, holding on to most of the 
gains they made earlier in the week after the U.S. and China declared a 
temporary cease-fire in their trade war. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% Wednesday. 
Most stocks in the index lost ground, but solid gains for several heavyweight 
technology companies like Nvidia helped pull the index higher. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average fell 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.7%. American 
Eagle Outfitters sank 6.4% after becoming the latest company to pull its 
financial forecasts. Treasury yields rose in the bond market.

   THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.

   Stocks are wavering on Wall Street and holding on to most of the gains they 
made earlier in the week after the U.S. and China declared a temporary 
cease-fire in their trade war.

   The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged Wednesday afternoon. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average fell 68 points, or 0.2% as of 2:57 p.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq 
rose 0.6%.

   The majority of stocks in the S&P 500 lost ground, but several big 
technology stocks helped counter the losses. Super Micro Computer surged 16.8% 
after signing a partnership agreement with Saudi Arabian data center company 
DataVolt. Advanced Micro Devices jumped 4.3% after announcing a $6 billion 
stock buyback program.

   Other big gainers included eToro Group, a retail trading platform for stocks 
and cryptocurrency. It rose 30.3% in its first day of trading.

   The market has been relatively steady since its surge on Monday, which came 
after the U.S. and China entered a 90-day pause in their trade war. The market 
gained some more ground on Tuesday after the government reported that inflation 
unexpectedly cooled across the country in April. Additional updates on 
inflation and retail sales are expected on Thursday.

   The benchmark S&P 500 index, which sits at the center many 401(k) accounts 
has erased all its losses since President Donald Trump escalated his global 
trade war in early April. It has now erased its losses for the year and is back 
to within 4.1% of its all-time high set in February.

   "The stock market's rally has legs, as the trade negotiation with China was 
seemingly the toughest one on the docket," said Rick Gardner, chief investment 
officer at RGA Investments.

   Trump has delayed a large swath of his most severe tariffs against America's 
trading partners, but some import taxes remain in place. Uncertainty over the 
path ahead continues to hang over businesses and consumers. The 
on-again-off-again nature of Trump's trade policy has left companies unable to 
plan ahead and consumers nervous about spending.

   Businesses continue to trim or withdraw their financial forecasts as they 
face unpredictable trade policy and cautious consumers.

   American Eagle fell 5.7% after the retailer withdrew its financial outlook 
for the year citing "macro uncertainty." General Motors, UPS, Kraft Heinz and 
JetBlue are among the many companies representing a wide range of industries 
that have warned about the impact of tariffs and a weakening economy.

   More than 90% of companies in the S&P 500 have reported earnings for their 
latest quarter. The majority of companies have reported better-than-expected 
earnings, but forecasts for earnings growth during the current quarter have 
been broadly cut in half for companies in the index.

   The economy has already showed signs of slowing. It shrank 0.3% during the 
first quarter amid a surge of imports as businesses and consumers tried to 
stock up amid tariffs and policy uncertainty.

   Inflation remains a big concern. The latest data on consumer prices released 
Tuesday showed that tariffs haven't had much impact yet. But that could change 
as the impact of current tariffs make their way through supply chains and 
delayed tariffs potentially go into effect. Inflation has cooled to just above 
the Federal Reserve's target of 2%, but the threat of higher prices on goods 
because of import taxes has heightened worries about inflation heating up.

   The U.S. on Thursday will release its April report for inflation at the 
wholesale level, which is what companies are paying for goods. Economists 
expect an easing of inflation there.

   The latest update Thursday for retail sales is expected to reflect a sharp 
drop to 0.2% in April from 1.4% the previous month.

   Retail giant Walmart will also report its latest financial results on 
Thursday and its financial forecasts will be closely watched.

   In the bond market, Treasury yields edged higher. The yield on the 10-year 
Treasury rose to 4.52% from 4.47% late Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, 
which moves more closely with expectations for Fed action, rose to 4.04% from 
4.00% late Tuesday.

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

   ---------

   itemid:ba100e59edebd7b302577ce3b076824f