International

Options trader Chris Dattolo, center, works with colleagues on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025.

AP Photo/Richard Drew

Stocks add a bit to their records on Wall Street

By The Canadian Press

Published 12:51 PDT, Thu August 28, 2025

—

Stocks on Wall Street moved further into record territory in afternoon trading Thursday, following new economic data and a mixed batch of earnings reports from big U.S. companies.

The S&P 500 was up 0.3 per cent and on pace for its second record high in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed an early slide to add 67 points, or 0.2 per cent, as of 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite was 0.6 per cent higher.

About 58 per cent of the companies in the benchmark S&P 500 were in the red, but gains in big technology and communication services companies offset losses elsewhere in the market. Broadcom rose 3.1 per cent, Oracle was 1.9 per cent higher and Google parent Alphabet rose 2.1 per cent.

“We’re seeing a continuation of a theme that has been in place really all year long, and that is communication services, information technology, really the areas that are surrounding this incredible capital expenditure cycle, have been the primary beneficiaries," said Bill Northey, senior investment director at U.S. Bank Asset Management.

Tech giant Nvidia was down 0.8 per cent a day after reporting quarterly earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street analysts’ forecasts, though the company noted that sales of its artificial intelligence chipsets rose at a slower pace than analysts anticipated.

Investors consider Nvidia a barometer for the strength of the boom in artificial intelligence because the company makes most of the chips that power the technology. Its heavy weighting also gives Nvidia outsized influence as a bellwether for the broader market.

Shares in several retailers were down following their latest quarterly results.

Best Buy fell 3.9 per cent after the consumer electronics chain's second-quarter snapshot was overshadowed by an outlook clouded due to the tariffs the U.S. is imposing on trading partners.

Despite also posting better-than-expected quarterly results, Urban Outfitters slid 8.8 per cent after the retailer warned that it expects tariffs will increase pressure on its gross margins in the second half of the year.

Dick’s Sporting Goods fell 4.3 per cent despite reporting second-quarter results that beat analysts' expectations.

Victoria’s Secret & Co. gave up an early gain and was down 0.1 per cent.

Burlington Stores bucked the trend. The retail chain climbed 5.8 per cent after its latest earnings topped analysts’ estimates.

Elsewhere in the market, Spam maker Hormel sank 12.7 per cent for one of the biggest declines among S&P 500 companies after its earnings fell short of Wall Street’s forecasts and the company cut its outlook for the year.

Traders also had their eye on new government reports on the job market and economy.

The Labor Department reported that applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, the latest sign that employers are holding onto their workers even as the economy has slowed.

The most recent government data suggests hiring has slowed sharply since this spring.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported that U.S. gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — grew at a 3.3 per cent annual pace in the April-June quarter after shrinking 0.5 per cent in the first three months of this year due to the fallout from the Trump administration’s trade wars.

“The GDP print reinforces the fact that this continues to be an economy, domestically, that is continuing to show a great deal of resilience in terms of producing economic growth,” Northey said.

Still, the sluggishness in the job market is a key reason that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled last week that the central bank may cut its key interest rate at its meeting next month.

Lower rates can boost investment prices and the economy by making it cheaper for U.S. households and businesses to borrow, but they risk worsening inflation.

Traders are still betting the Fed will trim its benchmark interest rate at its next meeting in September. Traders see an 85.3 per cent chance that the central bank will cut the rate by a quarter of a percentage point, according to data from CME Group.

Friday will bring another update on inflation: the U.S. personal consumption expenditures index. Economists expect it to show that inflation remained at about 2.6 per cent in July, compared with a year ago. Businesses have been warning investors and consumers about higher costs and prices because of tariffs.

Treasury yields were mixed in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.21 per cent from 4.24 per cent late Wednesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Federal Reserve action, rose to 3.64 per cent from 3.62 per cent.

European and Asian markets were mixed.

– Alex Veiga, The Associated Press