Ljutic makes it back-to-back World Cup wins in women’s slalom for standings lead

KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) —

Croatian skier Zrinka Ljutic made it back-to-back World Cup wins in women’s slalom to take the lead in the standings on Sunday.

The 20-year-old Ljutic won her first title at Semmering, Austria last week and quickly followed up with her second at Kranjska Gora. Ljutic was joint-fastest with Wendy Holdener in their first run, then 0.16 seconds faster than the Swiss skier in the second.

“I didn’t know how Wendy, how well she skied," Ljutic said. "I just had my own sort of idea and I was really focusing on myself. I kind of decided the tempo of the course of the run, how I want to ski. And I really tried to stick to that vision and I made it, it was enough. So that’s even better."

Anna Swenn-Larsson of Sweden was third, 1.19 behind Ljutic.

With injured star Mikaela Shiffrin not racing, Ljutic seized the lead in the discipline standings on 309 points, four ahead of former leader Camille Rast, who was fourth, 1.36 behind.

Rast maintained her record of not finishing outside the top five slalom placings this season. The Swiss skier won her debut World Cup race in Killington on Dec. 1.

Ljutic leads the overall standings on 456 points, nine ahead of Sweden’s Sara Hector, who was sixth after winning the giant slalom the day before.

Ljutic, who will turn 21 later this month, said her success seven days earlier spurred her on again.

“Especially now after this nice result in Semmingen, I really had a big appetite, I obviously wanted to repeat that and I felt in some sense powerful and dominant,” Ljutic said. “But again, I knew that I cannot now focus on just like the time and the win, I have to do my things before that in order to make possible that it happens. And it happened. So I’m just grateful.”

Defending champion Shiffrin, who triumphed in the first two races in the discipline this season, is recovering from abdominal surgery to clean out a deep wound she suffered in a giant slalom crash on Nov. 30 in Killington.

In Shiffrin’s absence, Katie Hensien was the highest placed American skier in 12th.

From left, second placed Switzerland's Wendy Holdener, the winner Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic and third placed Sweden's Anna Swenn Larsson celebrate after an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Piermarco Tacca)

The winner Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic celebrates after an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Piermarco Tacca)

From left, second placed Switzerland's Wendy Holdener, the winner Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic and third placed Sweden's Anna Swenn Larsson celebrate after an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Piermarco Tacca)

The winner Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic celebrates with her team after an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Piermarco Tacca)

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Piermarco Tacca)

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic reacts after winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic reacts after winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom race in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting lower Thursday following a jumble of mixedreports that shed little clarity on how the U.S. economy is managing through President Donald Trump’s trade war.

The S&P 500 was 0.3% lower in morning trading and potentially on track for its first drop of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 139 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% lower.

Treasury yields sank more sharply in the bond market following the reports, with the headliners saying shoppers spent less at U.S. retailers last month than expected, while inflation was better at the wholesale level than economists expected. Other updates said U.S. manufacturing looks like it’s still contracting but fewer U.S. workers are applying for unemployment benefits than expected.

Altogether, the reports suggested the Federal Reserve may have more room to cut interest rates later this year to bolster the U.S. economy if it weakens under the weight of high tariffs. But they did little to spell out whether the economy is falling toward a recession, as many investors had been fearing, or shaking off the uncertainty after Trump called off many of his tariffs temporarily.

Such uncertainty showed itself in Walmart’s stock, which fell 3.1% even though it reported a bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Like other U.S. companies struggling through Trump’s on-again-off-again rollout of tariffs, Walmart did not offer a forecast for how much profit it will make in the current quarter. Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey pointed to “the range of near-term outcomes being exceedingly wide and difficult to predict,” though the company did say it expects sales to grow between 3.5% and 4.5%, not including the swings that shifting values of foreign currencies can bring.

The nation’s largest retailer also said that it must raise prices due to higher costs caused by Trump’s tariffs.

Equipment maker Deere also said it's seeing “near-term market challenges” and called the situation “dynamic,” as many other companies have. It lowered the bottom end of its forecasted range of profit for the full year. But its stock nevertheless rose 4.2% after it reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Cisco Systems was another winner and jumped 5.8% after the tech giant also topped expectations for profit. Analysts said they're optimistic about Cisco's artificial-intelligence prospects.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Dick’s Sporting Goods tumbled 14.9% after it said it would buy the struggling Foot Locker chain for $2.4 billion. Dick’s also said that it made a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Foot Locker soared 83.3% after coming into the day with a loss of nearly 41% for the year so far.

It’s the second buyout of a major footwear company in as many weeks as businesses struggle with uncertainty over how Trump’s tariffs will impact imported products coming from overseas. Last week Skechers announced that it was being taken private by 3G Capital for $9 billion.

In the oil market, crude prices sank roughly 2.5% on expectations that more petroleum could be set to flow into global markets because of a possible deal between the United States and Iran on the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear program. Such a deal could help ease sanctions against Tehran.

Elsewhere, China moved to reverse some of its “non-tariff” measures against the U.S. as agreed with Washington in their temporary trade war cease-fire, while demanding that the U.S. side “immediately correct its wrong practices.”

A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson accused the Trump administration of violating world trade rules by announcing that use of Ascend computer chips made by China’s Huawei Technologies violates U.S. export controls.

Stock indexes fell 0.8% in Hong Kong and 0.7% in Shanghai, while indexes were mixed elsewhere in Asia and Europe.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.49% from 4.53% late Wednesday.

The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, dropped to 3.99% from 4.05%. Traders are building bets that the Fed will resume cutting its main interest rate as soon as September.

The Fed has been keeping its main interest rate on hold this year as it waits to see how Trump’s trade policies play out for the economy. Cutting interest rates would help juice the economy by making it easier for U.S. households and companies to borrow and spend. But it would also push upward on inflation when worries are high that Trump’s tariffs will do the same thing.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned in a speech on Thursday that the world “may be entering a period of more frequent, and potentially more persistent, supply shocks" that could goose inflation higher and present a "difficult challenge for the economy and for central banks.”

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Traders Jonathan Mueller, right, and Michael Capolino work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Jonathan Corpina works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Edward Curran works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Trader William Lawrence works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)