Financial Markets                      05/21 09:31

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. stock market is slipping Thursday following a 
rebound for oil prices and mixed reports on the U.S. economy.

   The S&P 500 fell 0.4% and is on track for a fourth drop in five days after 
setting its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 24 points, 
or less than 0.1%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 
0.5% lower.

   A halt in the torrid run for stocks benefiting from the 
artificial-intelligence boom has slowed the U.S. market recently. Not even 
another blowout profit report from Nvidia was enough to kick it back into gear.

   The chip company reported much stronger profit and revenue for the latest 
quarter than analysts expected, while also forecasting revenue for the current 
quarter that cleared analysts' estimates. "The buildout of AI factories -- the 
largest infrastructure expansion in human history -- is accelerating at 
extraordinary speed," CEO Jensen Huang said.

   Such performances and such talk have become routine, though, and Nvidia's 
stock swiveled between losses and gains before slipping 1.1%.

   Some analysts said the muted reaction may have simply been because investors 
were locking in profits after Nvidia's stock had soared nearly 70% over the 
prior year, more than double the S&P 500's 27% jump. The broad AI industry is 
also getting criticism for becoming too expensive, as well as too circular as 
Nvidia has bought ownership stakes in companies that use its own chips that 
drive Nvidia's revenue.

   Pressure built on Wall Street, meanwhile, as the price for a barrel of Brent 
crude oil climbed 2.2% to $107.32 and trimmed its loss for the week. Oil prices 
have been swinging up and down with uncertainty about how long the war with 
Iran will keep the Strait of Hormuz shut, which is preventing oil tankers from 
exiting the Persian Gulf to deliver crude.

   That helped push Treasury yields upward in the bond market, resuming their 
climbs following a slowdown the day before.

   Climbing yields worldwide have cranked up the pressure on financial markets. 
They're slowing economies and weighing on prices for stocks and all kinds of 
other investments. Besides driving up rates for mortgages, high yields could 
also curtail companies' borrowing to build the AI data centers that have been 
supporting the U.S. economy's growth recently.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.61% from 4.57% late Wednesday.

   It had gotten near 4.63% earlier in the morning, after a report gave the 
latest signal that the U.S. job market remains in better shape than economists 
expected. The number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits last 
week unexpectedly declined in an indication of fewer layoffs.

   But yields then eased a bit following a discouraging preliminary report on 
U.S. business activity. Companies are feeling the effects of accelerating 
inflation and are seeing subdued growth in their order books, preliminary data 
from an S&P Global survey said.

   "The damaging economic impact from the war in the Middle East is becoming 
increasingly evident in the business surveys," according to Chris Williamson, 
chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

   Inflation is worsening even beyond the high oil prices caused by the Iran 
war, while U.S. households are showing widespread discouragement about the 
economy.

   Elsewhere on Wall Street, Walmart fell 6.7% following its profit report. The 
retailer delivered another quarter of impressive revenue but offered up weaker 
forecasts for upcoming profit than analysts expected.

   On the winning side of Wall Street was Ralph Lauren, which jumped 10.5% 
after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than 
analysts expected.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following big jumps in 
some Asian markets.

   South Korea's Kospi Kospi soared 8.4% thanks to strength for technology 
stocks. Samsung Electronics jumped 8.5% after its labor union and management 
reached an agreement late Wednesday that averted a potentially costly strike. 
SK Hynix, a chip company partnering with Nvidia, surged 11.2%.

   Tokyo's Nikkei 225 jumped 3.1%, though indexes fell 1% in Hong Kong and 2% 
in Shanghai.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

   ---------

   itemid:d42265575e6ca7edd4fea8edce5a74f3