Wall Street drifts near records as it heads for the finish of a winning week

NEW YORK AP Wall Street is drifting on Friday toward the finish of its third winning week in the last four as more big U S companies deliver stronger profits for the spring than analysts expected The S P was virtually unchanged in midday trading after setting its all-time high the day before The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down points or as of a m Eastern time and the Nasdaq composite was nearly unchanged after coming off its own record Norfolk Southern chugged higher after an AP source stated it s talking with Union Pacific about a merger to create the largest railroad in North America one that would connect the East and West coasts Any such deal though would likely face tough scrutiny from U S regulators Union Pacific s stock fell Two of the heavier weights on the area meanwhile were companies that veritably informed stronger profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected Netflix dropped Analysts commented it s not a surprise the stock was sluggish despite reporting a stronger-than-expected profit It had already already soared for the year so far coming into the day six times more than the gain for the S P American Express likewise delivered a better-than-expected profit statement but its stock lost Analysts pointed to slowing rise in specific underlying trends such as the number of cards it issued Exxon Mobil sank and also helped to tug on the territory It had been challenging Chevron s billion deal to buy Hess but an arbitration ruling in Paris about chosen of Hess assets off Guyana s coast allowed the buyout to go through Chevron slipped Stronger-than-expected profit reports for the spring did help several stocks rally Charles Schwab climbed Regions Financial jumped and Comerica added In the bond area Treasury yields eased after a analysis suggested U S consumers may be feeling less fearful about coming inflation They re bracing for inflation of in the year ahead down from last month s projection of according to preliminary results from a University of Michigan survey That s key because expectations for high inflation can feed into behaviors that create a vicious cycle that keep inflation high Overall sentiment among consumers meanwhile was a hair better than economists expected but still well below its historical average Consumers are unlikely to regain their confidence in the market system unless they feel assured that inflation is unlikely to worsen for example if transaction procedures stabilizes for the foreseeable future according to Joanne Hsu the survey s director The yield on the -year Treasury sank to from late Thursday The two-year Treasury yield which more closely tracks expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do with its short-term rates also dropped It fell to from A top Fed official Gov Chris Waller reported late Thursday that the Fed should cut its overnight interest rate as soon as its next meeting in a couple weeks That follows sharp criticism from President Donald Trump who has been castigating the Fed for holding interest rates steady this year instead of cutting them as it did late last year Lower rates could give the economic system a boost and Trump has also implied they could help the U S ruling body save money on its debt payments though that s uncertain The interest rates Washington has to pay on its longer-term debt can depend more on what bond investors think than on what the Fed does and they can even move in opposite directions The chair of the Fed meanwhile has been insisting that he wants to see more figures about how Trump s tariffs will affect the financial system and inflation before the Fed makes its next move The downside of lower interest rates is that they can give inflation more fuel and prices may already be starting to feel the upward effects of tariffs Traders on Wall Street still think it s much more likely that the Fed will resume cutting interest rates in September rather than later this month according to facts from CME Group In stock markets abroad indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia Hong Kong s Hang Seng jumped but Tokyo s Nikkei slipped ahead of an poll for the upper house of parliament on Sunday that could wipe out the ruling coalition s upper house majority AP Writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed Source