Financial Markets                      06/30 09:48

   U.S. stocks are drifting toward the finish of a tough June on Tuesday.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are drifting toward the finish of a tough June 
on Tuesday.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, though it's still heading toward its first losing 
month following two fabulous ones. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 49 
points, or 0.1%, as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 
0.7% higher.

   The main reason for this month's rockiness has been weakness for stocks in 
the artificial-intelligence industry. After roaring to tremendous heights in 
the frenzy around AI, such stocks have come under pressure because of worries 
that they shot too high. That's a big deal for all investors because AI stocks 
have grown into some of Wall Street's largest and most influential, pulling 
indexes behind them.

   AI stocks were a bit calmer on Tuesday, with Nvidia rising 1%. It was one of 
the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500.

   Outside of AI, the economy seems to be rumbling along, even though U.S. 
households are still feeling sour about it. A report released in the morning 
said that U.S. employers were advertising many more job openings at the end of 
May than economists expected, the latest signal that the job market remains 
resilient.

   But a second report said that confidence among U.S. consumers improved by 
less than economists expected. More Americans are saying it's hard to get a 
job, despite the data suggesting continued hiring.

   Tuesday's relatively quiet trading came as companies close their books for 
the quarter running from April through June. Investors will want to see strong 
growth in profits to justify the big gains stocks made early in the quarter. 
Even with June's drop, the S&P 500 is still on track for its best quarter since 
six years ago, when stocks rocketed out of the crash caused by the COVID 
pandemic.

   Concentrix tumbled 17.7% after the technology company reported profit and 
revenue for the latest quarter that were just shy of analysts' expectations.

   In the oil market, prices edged higher as two U.S. envoys arrived in Qatar 
for talks with mediators about the implementation of an initial deal to end the 
war in Iran. The Americans will not be having direct negotiations with Iranian 
diplomats while in Doha.

   The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 
0.5% to $74.27. The hope is that an end to the war will restore full access to 
the Strait of Hormuz, allowing oil tankers to move more crude and lower its 
price.

   Expensive oil has already sent inflation jumping around the world, which in 
turn has raised worries that the Federal Reserve and other central banks may 
have to raise interest rates. Higher rates would keep a lid on inflation, but 
they would also slow economic growth and hurt prices for investments.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.39% from 4.38% late Monday.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

   Germany's DAX returned 1.3%, and South Korea's Kospi climbed 1% for two of 
the bigger gains.

   Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.9% as the value of the Japanese yen dropped near 
its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in 40 years.

   U.S. government bonds are paying much higher yields than their Japanese 
counterparts, and the possibility of rate hikes by the Fed is putting more 
pressure on the yen. Speculation is rising that Japan's government may try to 
prop up the yen's value, but Japan's finance minister said only that the 
government was ready to "respond appropriately whenever necessary."

   ___

   AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this 
report.

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