US Stocks Halt Their 3-day Slide       08/19 09:39

   U.S. stocks are ticking higher Wednesday after the U.S. Treasury Department 
said it will buy more U.S. government bonds in a move that eased pressure on 
financial markets worldwide. Strong profit reports for the spring from Estee 
Lauder, Target and other U.S. companies are also helping to support the stock 
market.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are ticking higher Wednesday after the U.S. 
Treasury Department said it will buy more U.S. government bonds in a move that 
eased pressure on financial markets worldwide. Strong profit reports for the 
spring from Estee Lauder, Target and other U.S. companies are also helping to 
support the stock market.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.4% and is on track for its first gain in four days after 
setting its all-time high last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 
255 points, or 0.5%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite 
was virtually unchanged.

   The stock market has been under growing strain as worries about inflation, 
big government debts and other factors drive Treasury yields higher in the bond 
market. That ultimately makes borrowing money more expensive for everyone, 
which slows the economy and undercuts prices for stocks and other investments.

   But Treasury yields fell in the morning after the U.S. Treasury Department 
said it will at least double the size of its planned purchases of longer-term 
Treasurys from Sept. 9 through Nov. 4. The department said it's doing so "to 
provide greater liquidity support in longer-dated nominal sectors where there 
is consistent strong sponsorship from market participants."

   These longer-term 10- and 30-year Treasurys are less beholden to the Federal 
Reserve, which can raise or lower very short-term interest rates for overnight 
loans. President Donald Trump has lobbied for the Fed to lower interest rates 
to help the economy.

   Instead, longer-term yields are set by investors in the bond market, who are 
deciding how much interest they need to get paid by the U.S. government in 
exchange for lending it money. And recently, they have been demanding more in 
interest to make up for the growing risks of high inflation, continued 
government deficits and other factors.

   After the Treasury department's announcement, the yield on the 10-year 
Treasury sank to 4.64% from 4.71% late Tuesday, which is a notable move for the 
bond market. It, though, remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war 
with Iran sent oil prices and worries about inflation much higher.

   The 30-year Treasury yield, which has recently touched its highest level 
since 2007, fell more sharply to 5.19% from 5.28% late Tuesday.

   On Wall Street, Moderna and Merck helped lead the market after they 
announced encouraging results from a study of a cancer vaccine they 
co-developed. The new drug showed better recurrence-free survival in melanoma 
patients who had a combination of it and Keytruda, a prescription immunotherapy 
drug made by Merck, than with Keytruda alone.

   Moderna soared 150.2%, while Merck jumped 10.3%.

   The continuing parade of U.S. companies to report bigger profits for the 
spring than analysts expected, meanwhile, continues to support stocks.

   Estee Lauder rallied 16.4% after CEO Stphane de La Faverie said a key 
measure of its revenue growth accelerated for a fourth straight quarter. It 
reported growth in revenue around the world, with the strongest in mainland 
China.

   The skin care company reported earnings per share of 39 cents, after 
excluding some restructuring and other one-time expenses. That's up from just 9 
cents a year earlier and was better than the 32 cents that analysts expected, 
according to FactSet.

   Such growth is imperative because stock prices tend to follow the path of 
corporate profits over the long term. And strong growth helps allay criticism 
that stock prices shot too high in their runs to records.

   Target rose 4.8%, Lowe's added 4.2% and homebuilder Toll Brothers climbed 
6.9% after they all also reported better profits for the latest quarter than 
expected.

   They helped offset drops for some Big Tech stocks, which restrained the 
overall market. Broadcom fell 5.3%, for example, and was the heaviest weight on 
the S&P 500. It and other winners of the artificial-intelligence boom have been 
swingingsharply through the summer on worries that their stocks may have shot 
too high and that the AI frenzy may not be sustainable if it doesn't produce 
big-enough profits.

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

   Tokyo's Nikkei 225 sank 3.2%. South Korea's Kospi, which has been home to 
some of the world's sharpest swings because of its heavy reliance on AI stocks, 
slumped 5.8%.