Stock market today: Nasdaq sets another record as Wall Street wins back earlier losses

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Friday in a bounce back from Wall Street’s worst day since April.

The S&P 500 gained 36.88 points, or 0.7%, to 5,304.72 and won back all its losses from the prior two days. It eked out a tiny gain for the week, enough to extend its weekly winning streak to five, and is sitting just below its record set on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.33 points, or less than 0.1%, to 39,069.59, and the Nasdaq composite gained 184.76, or 1.1%, to 16,920.79 and topped its all-time high set earlier this week.

Deckers Outdoor jumped 14.2% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than expected. The company behind the Hoka, Ugg and Teva brands also gave a forecast for revenue this upcoming fiscal year that was in line with analysts’ expectations.

Ross Stores also lifted the market after leaping 7.8%. The retailer reported better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. That was despite its revenue only edging past expectations, as customers continue to hold back on purchases of non-essentials.

CEO Barbara Rentler said several challenges, “including prolonged inflation, continue to squeeze our low-to-moderate income customers’ purchasing power.”

Even though data on the overall, or macro, economy has been showing continued strength for spending by U.S. households, the numbers underneath the surface may not be as encouraging.

“Walmart and Target are telling us that high income consumers are doing fine, but beginning to trade down,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “The lower income consumer is struggling. Macro often focuses too much on the average and the average is skewed by the high-end household.”

The market got a bit of a boost Friday from a report showing overall sentiment among U.S. consumers weakened by less in May than preliminary data had suggested. Perhaps more importantly, the report from the University of Michigan also said U.S. consumers’ expectations for inflation in the coming year rose by less in May than earlier feared.

That could help stave off a vicious cycle where high expectations for inflation among U.S. households drive them to behave in ways that only make inflation worse.

Worries about stubbornly high inflation were behind this week’s rocky trading, after indexes set records recently. The weakness began after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday released the minutes from its last policy meeting. It showed some officials talking about the possibility of raising rates if inflation worsens.

Stocks fell further after reports on Thursday indicated the U.S. economy is stronger than expected. Such strength can actually spook Wall Street because it could keep upward pressure on inflation.

That in turn could at least delay the Federal Reserve from giving relief to financial markets through cuts to its main interest rate, which is sitting at the highest level in more than 20 years. The Fed is trying to pull of the difficult feat of slowing the economy enough through high interest rates to stifle high inflation but not so much that it kneecaps the job market.

Goldman Sachs economist David Mericle pushed back his forecast for the Fed’s first cut to rates to September from July, in part due to Thursday’s reports on U.S. business activity and joblessness.

Treasury yields climbed this week on such concerns, but they were mostly stable Friday following the report on consumer sentiment. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.46% from 4.48% late Thursday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for action by the Fed, was holding steady at 4.94%.

This week’s bumpiness for stocks came despite another blowout profit report from Nvidia, which has rocketed to become one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks amid a frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology. Fervor around AI had pushed some stocks to heights that critics called overdone, but Nvidia’s eye-popping growth and forecasts for more suggest it could keep going.

Nvidia rose another 2.6% Friday, making it the biggest single force pushing the S&P 500 upward.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Workday fell 15.3% despite reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, which helps businesses manage their people and money, gave a forecast for upcoming subscription revenue that fell a bit short of Wall Street’s estimates.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Asia and Europe. Indexes sank 1.4% in Hong Kong, 1.3% in Seoul and 1.2% in Tokyo.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

FILE - Tourists gather near the New York Stock Exchange on May 16, 2024, in New York. Shares retreated in Europe and Asia on Friday, May 24, 2024, after unexpectedly strong reports on the U.S. economy raised the possibility that interest rates may stay painfully high. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

FILE - A flag hangs from the side of the New York Stock Exchange is on Thursday, May 16, 2024, in New York. Trinity Church appears in the background. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Friday, May 24, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Friday, May 24, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Friday, May 24, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Friday, May 24, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Friday, May 24, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei and New York Dow indexes at a securities firm Friday, May 24, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer and scored four times, Mookie Betts also went deep and drove in four runs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the New York Mets 10-2 on Thursday night for a 3-1 lead in their lopsided National League Championship Series.

Betts had a two-run homer and a two-run double among his four hits. Max Muncy extended his streak of reaching base safely to 12 plate appearances, a postseason record, and the Dodgers moved within one win of their 25th pennant — most in NL history.

Game 5 is Friday at Citi Field, with Jack Flaherty expected to pitch for Los Angeles with an opportunity to put his hometown team in the World Series.

New York had not committed to a scheduled starter, but it was likely to be Kodai Senga or David Peterson.

Surprise cleanup batter Tommy Edman had three RBIs, including a tiebreaking double off starter Jose Quintana with two outs in the third inning. Kiké Hernández followed with an RBI single that made it 3-1.

Betts broke open the game, greeting reliever Jose Buttó with a two-run double in the fourth and then right-hander Phil Maton with a two-run homer in the sixth.

Both big hits followed walks to Ohtani, and Betts gave a huge fist pump between second and third as he rounded the bases following his third homer of these playoffs.

Mark Vientos provided a rare highlight for New York, hitting his fourth postseason homer in the first inning off $325 million rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

But the Mets, who were 14-2 in their past 16 games at Citi Field when they arrived back home Wednesday, were blown out on their own turf for the second consecutive night.

New York has been outscored 30-9 in the series, including 9-0 in the opener and 8-0 in Game 3.

The latest flop after a thrilling comeback ride this far into October hushed a sellout crowd of 43,882 and left Citi Field eerily quiet in the late innings — and just about as empty as April.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dodgers: All-Star 1B Freddie Freeman missed his second game of the playoffs. Freeman has been playing with a badly sprained and swollen right ankle throughout the postseason.

Mets: Slumping catcher Francisco Alvarez hobbled to first base in pain after getting drilled by Yamamoto's 91 mph sinker to begin the fifth. He was pulled for a pinch hitter with the bases loaded in the sixth.

UP NEXT

Acquired from Detroit at the July 30 trade deadline, Flaherty went 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 10 regular-season starts for the Dodgers and finished 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA overall. He allowed two hits over seven innings to win the NLCS opener 9-0.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani celebrates in the dugout after scoring on a double by Mookie Betts during the fourth inning in Game 4 of a baseball NL Championship Series against the New York Mets, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts celebrates after a two run double against the New York Mets during the fourth inning in Game 4 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts hits a two-run home run against the New York Mets during the sixth inning in Game 4 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts celebrates after a two-run home run against the New York Mets during the sixth inning in Game 4 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts celebrates after a two-run home run against the New York Mets during the sixth inning in Game 4 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)