NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� U.S. stock indexes added slightly to their record highs in relatively subdued trading on Wall Street. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% Monday, beating the all-time high it set on Thursday. The benchmark index is coming off its fifth winning week in the last six. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% to its own record set Friday. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%. Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report suggested U.S. services businesses are continuing to grow, though manufacturing is continuing to shrink. Stock markets in Europe and Asia held mostly steady amid relatively modest movements.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP鈥檚 earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� U.S. stock indexes are hanging near their all-time highs on Monday.
The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in afternoon trading, coming off its fifth winning week in the last six, and flitting around its . The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 75 points, or 0.2%, from . The Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher, as of 2:31 p.m. Eastern time.
Tesla led the way with a gain of 4.6%. The maker of electric vehicles has clawed back all its sharp losses from earlier in the year. It was down as much as 42% at one point in April, when it was cutting prices on its cars to boost .
Financial markets have been romping higher after the Federal Reserve last week for the first time in more than four years by an unusually large amount. The hope is that as it continues to cut interest rates, the boost given to the U.S. economy through lower rates for car loans, mortgages and other borrowing will help it .
But some critics say the Federal Reserve may be moving too late, with the , and call stock prices too high.
A report on Monday morning suggested U.S. business activity is not growing as quickly as economists expected, mostly because of a continued downturn in manufacturing. The preliminary report from S&P Global said U.S. manufacturing shrank more severely in September than in August and hit a 15-month low. It's been one of the parts of the economy hurt most by high interest rates.
The overall figures suggest a U.S. economy that's still growing at a healthy rate, according to Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. "But there are some warning lights flashing, notably in terms of the dependence on the service sector for growth, as manufacturing remained in decline, and the worrying drop in business confidence.鈥�
He also pointed to subdued activity among businesses given uncertainty heading into the U.S. elections in November.
Several reports coming this week could offer more context about where the U.S. economy stands. One on Thursday will offer the final reading for the U.S. economy鈥檚 growth in the spring, and another on Friday will give a look at how much U.S. consumers are spending.
Such economic reports, particularly on the job market, are taking top priority on Wall Street because the main fear is now a slowdown in the job market. It鈥檚 a notable shift from prior years, when the most attention was on anything related to inflation.
But now that substantially from , the Fed has shifted gears.
It feels less need to keep rates high in order to slow the economy enough to stifle inflation, hence last week鈥檚 cut of half a percentage point to its main interest rate. And it feels more pressure to prop up the job market and overall economy, hence its plans to keep cutting interest rates this year and next.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 3.74% from late Friday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which moves more with expectations for Fed action, fell to 3.57% from 3.60% late Friday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes held mostly steady in Europe after preliminary data suggested business activity in the euro zone is weaker than economists expected. Germany鈥檚 DAX rose 0.7%, while the French CAC 40 rose 0.1%.
In Asia, movements for indexes were also muted. Indexes rose 0.4% in Shanghai but slipped 0.1% in Hong Kong after China鈥檚 central bank lowered its 14-day reverse repurchase rate on Monday. That followed its decision to keep key lending rates unchanged last week, when investors had been expecting a cut.
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AP Writer Zimo Zhong contributed.
Stan Choe, The Associated Press
