NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting around their records on Tuesday after the price of gold topped $4,000 per ounce for the first time.
The S&P 500 ticked down by 0.1%, coming off its latest all-time high and a seven-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 66 points, or 0.1%, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% lower.
The bond market and stock indexes overseas were also making relatively modest moves. Markets are taking a pause following a rush higher for many investments on hopes that the economy will remain resilient and that the Federal Reserve will continue to cut interest rates.
With the U.S. government stuck in another shutdown, several high-profile economic reports have been delayed, such as the monthly update on the job market. Without those reports, which often move the market, some strategists say Wall Street could remain in its upward trend for a while.
One of the biggest trends guiding Wall Street has been the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology, which has vaulted the market to record after record but also raised worries that prices have potentially shot too high.
IBM rose 4% after announcing a partnership that will integrate Anthropic’s Claude AI chatbot into some of its software products. Dell climbed 2% after executives talked up the company's opportunity for growth because of AI at a conference with investors and analysts. Advanced Micro Devices rallied another 4.5%, adding to its surge from the day before when it announced a deal where OpenAI will use its chips to power AI infrastructure.
Much is riding on expectations that the AI investment boom will pay off, make the global economy more productive and drive more growth. Without that increased efficiency, inflation could push higher due to upward pressure coming from the mountains of debt that the U.S. and other governments worldwide are building.
That has optimists on Wall Street buying tech stocks and pessimists buying gold, according to Thierry Wizman, a strategist at Macquarie Group.
Investors have traditionally seen gold as offering protection from high inflation. Its price has soared more than 50% this year not only because of governments' huge debt loads but also because of political instability worldwide and expectations for lower interest rates from the Fed.
Investors looking to “hedge” themselves, meanwhile, may be buying both tech stocks and gold, Wizman wrote in a research report.
Elsewhere on Wall Street, Constellation Brands climbed 1.9% after the beer and wine company reported results for the latest quarter that several analysts said were better than they expected. Sales of beer still dropped from a year earlier, though, as CEO Bill Newlands highlighted a “challenging socioeconomic environment that has dampened consumer demand.”
Intercontinental Exchange, the company behind the New York Stock Exchange, added 0.8% after saying it had agreed to invest up to $2 billion in Polymarket.
Polymarket offers prediction markets that allow customers to profit from making predictions on events across politics, financial markets and popular culture, such as who will become New York City’s next mayor or whether the U.S. government will announce that aliens exist this year.
On the losing end of Wall Street was Tesla, which fell 1.2%. It gave back some of its 5.4% leap from Monday, when speculation rose that postings to social media by the electric-vehicle maker hinted at a possible product unveiling coming on Tuesday.
In Toronto, shares of Trilogy Metals more than tripled after the White House said late Monday that it’s taking a 10% equity stake in the Canadian company while allowing the Ambler Road mining project in Alaska to go forward.
President Donald Trump late Monday ordered the approval of a proposed 211-mile road through an Alaska wilderness to allow mining of copper, cobalt, gold and other minerals used in production of cars, electronics and other technologies. Trilogy is seeking to develop the Ambler site along with an Australian partner, and its stock soared 216%.
In Europe, France’s CAC 40 edged up by less than 0.1% a day after slumping due to the latest political upheaval in Paris. France’s prime minister abruptly resigned on Monday.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.14% from 4.18% late Monday.
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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.
