Financial Markets                      01/24 15:55

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks pulled back from their all-time high on Friday 
as they closed out a second straight winning week.

   The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% a day after setting a record. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average dipped 140 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 
0.5%.

   Trading was quiet through the day, aided by relative steadiness in the bond 
market, which has been driving much of the action on Wall Street lately. When 
worries about inflation and the U.S. government's swelling debt have been on 
the rise, Treasury yields have climbed and helped knock down stock prices. When 
concerns ebb, such as after last week's encouraging update on inflation, yields 
have eased and helped stocks rise.

   A mostly encouraging start to the earnings reporting season for big U.S. 
companies has also helped prop up the stock market. Even if higher Treasury 
yields are pushing downward on their stock prices, companies can make up for it 
by delivering bigger profits.

   "If 2024 was the year of the election, 2025 is the year of earnings," 
according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. 
"Earnings have been fundamentally improving, but how long can that last and how 
much can they rise?"

   Texas Instruments fell 7.5% despite reporting profit for the latest quarter 
that topped analysts' expectations.

   In a sign of how much pressure is on companies to keep growing, analysts 
focused on discouraging signals of how much profit the company is likely to 
make from each $1 of revenue during the first three months of 2025. That helped 
drag down stocks across the semiconductor industry.

   CSX sank 2.9% even though the railroad delivered a profit for the latest 
quarter that matched analysts' expectations. Its revenue for the last three 
months of 2024 just missed analysts' forecasts as it dealt with the effects of 
hurricanes.

   On the winning side of Wall Street were Novo Nordisk's U.S.-listed shares, 
which jumped 8.5%. The Danish company reported results from a clinical trial of 
a treatment for people who are overweight or obese, which could mean bigger 
profits in the future.

   NextEra Energy climbed 5.2% after the owner of the Florida Power & Light 
utility reported profit for the latest quarter that was slightly above 
expectations. CEO John Ketchum said his company is benefiting from increased 
demand for electricity.

   Verizon Communications rose 0.9%. It delivered results for the latest 
quarter that edged past analysts' expectations, benefiting in part from price 
increases imposed in recent quarters, and unveiled a strategy to help 
businesses use artificial intelligence.

   All told, the S&P 500 fell 17.47 points to 6,101.24. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average dropped 140.82 to 44,424.25, and the Nasdaq composite sank 
99.38 to 19,954.30.

   In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.61% from 
4.65% late Thursday. Other yields also pulled lower following a couple reports 
on the U.S. economy that came in worse than expected.

   One said sentiment among U.S. consumers is weaker than economists had 
forecast and fell in January for the first time in six months. The drops were 
widespread, carrying across incomes, wealth and age groups, according to Joanne 
Hsu, director of the Surveys of Consumers at the University of Michigan.

   A separate preliminary report suggested U.S. business activity is also 
weaker than expected, with its growth slowing. A third, potentially more 
encouraging report said sales of previously occupied homes were slightly 
stronger last month than expected. That capped the weakest year for such sales 
since 1995.

   Traders don't expect the weak data to push the Federal Reserve to cut its 
main interest rate at its meeting next week. They're virtually certain the 
central bank will hold steady, according to data from CME Group.

   If they're correct, it would be the first meeting the Fed has done so since 
it began lowering the federal funds rate in September to take pressure off the 
U.S. economy. Lower rates can goose prices for investments, but they can also 
give inflation more fuel. And worries have been rising about stubborn 
inflation, as well as the effects of potential tariffs and other policies 
championed by President Donald Trump.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

   Tokyo's Nikkei 225 edged down by 0.1% after the Bank of Japan raised its 
benchmark interest rate to about 0.5% from 0.25%, as was widely expected. It is 
the highest level for the rate since 2008, as the Bank of Japan shifts out of a 
long spell of extreme low interest rates meant to spur more borrowing and 
spending.

   Stocks jumped 1.9% in Hong Kong and 0.7% in Shanghai for some of the bigger 
moves in global markets.

   ___

   AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.

   ---------

   itemid:00c644979507c2592327e1f0e077ad3f