Wall Street edges back from its record heights

NEW YORK AP U S stocks edged back from their record heights on Tuesday as the countdown ticked toward what Wall Street expects will be the first cut of the year to interest rates by the Federal Reserve The S P fell from its latest all-time high The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped points or while the Nasdaq composite slipped from its own record set the day before Stocks have run to records on expectations that the Fed will announce the first of a series of cuts to rates on Wednesday in hopes of giving the financial system a boost The job industry has slowed so much that traders believe Fed agents now see it as the bigger danger for the economic activity than the threat of higher inflation because of President Donald Trump s tariffs The Fed has been holding off on cuts to rates because inflation has remained above its target and easier interest rates could give it more fuel A record on Tuesday stated shoppers increased their spending at U S retailers by more last month than economists expected A chunk of that could be due to shoppers having to pay higher prices for the same amount of stuff But it could also indicate solid spending by U S households could continue to keep the market system out of a recession The information did little to change traders expectations for a cut to interest rates on Wednesday followed by more through the end of the year and into Such high expectations have sent stocks to records but they can also create disappointment if unfulfilled That s why more attention will be on what Fed Chair Jerome Powell says about the possibility of upcoming cuts in his press conference following Wednesday s decision than on the decision itself Fed leaders will also release their latest projections for where they see interest rates and the business sector heading in upcoming years which could provide another foreseen flashpoint For now global fund managers are tilting their portfolios toward stocks at the highest level in seven months according to the latest survey by Bank of America That s even though a record of them are also saying that stocks look too expensive at the moment On Wall Street Dave Buster s fell after the entertainment chain shared a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected New York Times Co fell after Trump filed a billion defamation lawsuit against the newspaper and four of its journalists on Monday The lawsuit points to several articles and a book written by Times journalists and published in the lead up to the vote as part of a decades-long pattern by the New York Times of intentional and malicious defamation against President Trump On the winning end of Wall Street was Steel Dynamics which climbed after it disclosed it s seeing improved earnings across its three business units It credited strong demand for steel from the non-residential construction and auto industries among other things Chipotle Mexican Grill added after its board announced the company could buy back an additional million of its stock Such a move can send cash directly to investors and boost per-share results Oracle rose on speculation that it could be part of a deal that would keep TikTok operating in the United States All advised the S P fell points to The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped to and the Nasdaq composite sank to In stock markets abroad indexes fell in Europe following a mixed showing in Asia Japan s Nikkei added to finish at another record The rally comes despite political uncertainty after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba disclosed he is stepping down An voting within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to pick a new leader is expected Oct In the bond arena the yield on the -year Treasury eased to from late Monday