Wall Street coasts toward the finish of another record-setting week

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NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is coasting toward the finish of its latest record-setting week on Friday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and was on track to close out its ninth winning week in the last 10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 98 points, or 0.2%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% higher.

All three hit all-time highs the day before, as did the small stocks in the Russell 2000 index, which finally surpassed its prior record set in 2021. Stocks have been rallying on expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue to cut interest rates in order to give the economy a boost after it lowered them for the first time this year on Wednesday.

FedEx helped lift the market after delivering stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It rose 3.2%, thanks in part to strength for its domestic package business.

Newmont rose 3.2% after the gold miner sold its investment in Canada's Orla Mining for $439 million. It added to a stellar run, and Newmont's stock has more than doubled so far this year as the price of gold has shot to record after record.

Gold has benefited from expectations for lower interest rates, along with worries about high inflation and the potential that mountains of debt for the U.S. and other governments could make their currencies worth less.

Lennar dropped 1.9% after the homebuilder reported weaker revenue for its latest quarter than analysts expected, even though its profit topped forecasts. Executive Chairman Stuart Miller pointed to “the continued pressures of today’s housing market” and said Lennar had to offer additional incentives to entice customers to buy homes, which dragged down the average sales price.

Easier interest rates could give the struggling housing market a boost, and mortgage rates have already come down in expectation of a rate-cutting campaign by the Fed.

Lower rates could also tamp down widespread criticism that the broad U.S. stock market has become too expensive after prices rose so quickly. But expectations have grown so strong for coming cuts to rates that the stock market may be set for a sharp drop if the Fed does not end up cutting as much as expected.

Fed officials did indicate earlier this week that more cuts to rates may be on the way this year and next. They're hoping to give some support to the job market, which has slowed sharply and made it more difficult for U.S. workers to find new positions.

But Fed Chair Jerome Powell also warned Wednesday that the central bank is in a precarious position and may have to change course quickly. That’s because the economy is in an unusual situation where inflation is remaining stubbornly high at the same time that the job market is slowing. And President Donald Trump's tariffs are threatening to push inflation higher, at least temporarily.

The Fed is in charge of fixing both high inflation and a weak job market, but it has only one tool to do so. And helping one by moving interest rates often hurts the other in the short term.

Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, warns that the stock market could become much more shaky following its recent glide to records as “the economy slows, tariff impacts arrive piecemeal and political uncertainties continue.”

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

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% after the Bank of Japan said it will sell some of its massive trove of Japanese stock funds. It also held interest rates steady.

Chinese indexes finished mixed ahead of a phone call that began Friday morning between Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping on tariffs and a deal to allow TikTok to keep operating in the United States.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were relatively stable. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was holding at 4.11%, where it was late Thursday.

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AP Writers Matt Ott and Teresa Cerojano contributed.