Stock market today: Wall Street rallies toward the end of its best week since Trump’s election

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are closing out their best week in two months with a flourish.

The S&P 500 was 1.1% higher in midday trading and on track for its first winning week in the last three. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 398 points, or 0.9%, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.6% higher.

SLB helped lead the market after the provider of services to oilfields delivered bigger profit and revenue for the end of 2024 than analysts expected. It jumped 7.6% after it also raised its dividend by 3.6% and said it’s returning $2.3 billion to its investors by buying back its own stock.

The most forceful pushes upward came from Big Tech stocks. All the companies in what’s come to be known as the “Magnificent Seven” rose. Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla all climbed more than 1%, while Meta Platforms lagged behind. Because they’re so massive in size, their movements carry more weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes than any other stock.

The Magnificent Seven has been under pressure recently because of criticism their stock prices may have shot too high after leading the market for so many years. Such worries gained momentum after Treasury yields jumped in the bond market in recent weeks. Higher yields hurt prices for all kinds of investments, and they weigh particularly on those seen as the most expensive.

But stocks broadly got a lift this week from an encouraging report on inflation, which raised hopes that the Federal Reserve may deliver more cuts to interest rates this year. More such cuts, which began in September, would ease the brakes off the economy and boost prices for investments, though they could also give inflation more fuel.

Wall Street has been lurching down and up in recent weeks as economic reports have forced traders to revamp their expectations about what the Fed will do with interest rates in 2025. Lower worries about inflation have sent Treasury yields lower and stocks up, while worsening worries about inflation have triggered the opposite reaction.

Treasury yields eased sharply this past week, and the 10-year Treasury yield slipped further on Friday. It’s down to 4.60% from 4.62% late Thursday and from 4.76% a week ago.

Still, even with this week’s better-than-expected readout on inflation, some on Wall Street remain skeptical about the chances for more cuts. With the U.S. economy still in solid overall shape, “you shouldn’t fix what’s not broken,” Bank of America economists Claudio Irigoyen and Antonio Gabriel said in a BofA Global Research report.

They also pointed to the uncertainties created by “Trumponomics 2.0.” Policies pushed by President-elect Donald Trump could help push up inflation, or at least expectations for it, including widespread tariffs and tax cuts for an economy that’s already still growing, for example.

Stocks and bonds have both swung up and down since Election Day amid such uncertainty.

Banks are still seen as some of the biggest beneficiaries from a second Trump administration. Besides a potentailly stronger economy, which would help boost profits for lending, investors expect another Trump term to mean less regulation on banks.

Truist Financial rose 4.6% Friday after joining the list of banks to report better profits for the end of 2024 than analysts expected. The company said its average deposits rose 1.5% during the quarter, and it followed bigger-than-expected profit reports from large rivals like Wells Fargo, Citigroup and others.

Other smaller, regional banks reported mixed results on Friday, though. Regions Financial fell 1.8%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services dropped 7% for the biggest loss in the S&P 500 after falling short of analysts’ expectations for profit in the latest quarter. Higher equipment and insurance-related costs helped drag on its results.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rallied in Europe after finishing mixed in Asia.

Chinese indexes rose modestly after authorities said the world’s second-largest economy grew at a 5% annual pace last year, hitting the government’s target but slowing from the year before. Strong exports and policies aimed at spurring more consumer spending and investment helped drive a boom in manufacturing, which jumped nearly 6% from a year earlier, the Chinese government reported.

Stocks rose 0.3% in Hong Kong and 0.2% in Shanghai.

Economists are forecasting a further slowing of growth this year and beyond, and President-elect Trump’s threats to raise U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods have added to Beijing’s challenges as it faces a raft of moves by Washington to limit access to advanced technology, such as computer chips used in artificial intelligence.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.3% as Nintendo dropped 4.3% following the unveiling of its newest console. The company promised more details about the Switch 2 in April and said it will be released this year.

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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Stan Choe, The Associated Press