Stock market today: Wall Street climbs to trim its loss for the week

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed Thursday to trim the majority of their losses for the week.

The S&P 500 rose 45.81 points, or 0.9%, to 5,064.20 a day after swinging sharply when the Federal Reserve said it's likely delaying cuts to interest rates but not planning to hike them. It more than halved its drop for the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 322.37, or 0.9%, to 38,225.66, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 235.48, or 1.5%, to 15,840.96.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased ahead of a report on Friday from the U.S. government on how many jobs employers added last month. It's one of the most highly anticipated economic reports each month, and economists expect it to show a slowdown in hiring.

“The markets will be hungry for any data suggesting the economy isn’t heating up any more than it did in” the first three months of 2024, according to Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley. That would give the Fed more leeway to consider cutting rates.

Earnings reports from several big companies helped drive the market higher. Qualcomm rose 9.7% after topping forecasts for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. The tech company also gave forecasted ranges for upcoming revenue and profit whose midpoints topped analysts’ expectations.

Carvana revved 33.8% higher after the used-car seller reported much better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected, boosted by better-than-forecast sales.

MGM Resorts International rose 2.8% after likewise topping forecasts for profit and revenue. It credited stronger traffic at MGM China, which ramped up as COVID-19 restrictions fell away in Macau.

Apple climbed 2.2% ahead of its profit report, which arrived after trading ended Thursday. It’s the latest to report among the group of stocks known as the “Magnificent Seven,” which drove the majority of the market’s gains last year.

They helped to offset a 15.1% drop for Etsy, which only roughly matched analysts’ expectations for results and revenue. It cited a “still challenging” environment where customers broadly are more selective about the non-essentials they’re buying.

DoorDash sank 10.3% after reporting a worse loss than expected. The company, which has been spending more on personnel and research and development, also gave a forecasted range for underlying earning trends in the current quarter whose midpoint fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Peloton Interactive swung from an early gain to a loss of 2.8% after it said it would cut roughly 400 jobs as part of a program to save $200 million in costs annually. It also said its CEO, Barry McCarthy, is stepping down. The company’s stock had fallen to a record low last week.

Linde was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500, sinking 5.2%, despite reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than expected. Revenue for the industrial gases and engineering company fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, as did the midpoint of its forecasted range for earnings in the current quarter.

In the bond market, which has been helping to dictate much of the stock market’s movements recently, yields fell following some economic reports.

One showed that fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. It’s the latest signal that the job market remains solid despite high interest rates.

A separate, potentially more disappointing report suggested growth in how much U.S. workers produced per hour worked was weaker at the start of 2024 than economists expected. A measure comparing labor costs to productivity, meanwhile, rose by more than expected in the preliminary report. That could put upward pressure on inflation.

The economy is in a tight spot, where the hope is that it remains strong enough to stay out of a recession but not so strong that it worsens the already stalled progress on inflation.

Stubbornly high readings on inflation this year are what pushed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to say on Wednesday that it will likely take “longer than previously expected” to get enough confidence about inflation to cut interest rates.

The Fed’s main interest rate has been sitting at its highest level since 2001, and cuts would release some pressure on the economy and financial markets.

After coming into the year forecasting six or more cuts to rates in 2024, traders are now largely betting on just one or two, if any, according to data from CME Group.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.58% from 4.63% late Wednesday. The two-year yield, which moves more closely with expectations for the Fed, fell to 4.88% from 4.97%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Asia and Europe. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.5%, while other markets in China were closed for a holiday.

AP writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm as pedestrians are reflected on a glass window Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Chris Kreider had a third-period hat trick to help the New York Rangers erase a two-goal deficit and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 in Game 6 on Thursday night to advance to the Eastern Conference Final.

Kreider single-handedly erased the Hurricanes' 3-1 lead entering the final period. The go-ahead score came when he got position on Jalen Chatfield at the top of the crease and tipped in Ryan Lindgren's pass to make it 4-3 with at the 15:41 mark.

That finally allowed the Presidents' Trophy-winning Rangers to put away the Hurricanes, who had won two straight after falling into a 3-0 hole in the best-of-7 series. The Hurricanes appeared on the verge of forcing a Game 7 for a pressure-packed finale, but couldn't contain Kreider and the Rangers' surge in the final 14 minutes.

Barclay Goodrow finished this one off by getting to a loose puck near the boards and scoring a long empty-net goal in the final minute, sending Goodrow to the nearby Rangers bench to be mobbed by teammates.

That sent the Rangers on to the Eastern Conference Final to face the Boston-Florida winner, with the Panthers leading that series 3-2.

Kreider’s first goal came when he cleaned up a stop by Frederik Andersen on Mika Zibanejad at the 6:43 mark to make it 3-2. He followed by tipping in a shot by Artemi Panarin to tie it at the 11:54 mark.

Igor Shesterkin hung in after a pressured first two periods, finishing with 33 saves and coming up with a big stop on Jordan Staal near the crease and another tying chance from Andrei Svechnikov off a faceoff win in the third period.

Vincent Trocheck also scored off a deflection in the second period for New York.

Martin Necas, Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho scored for Carolina, while Andersen finished with 19 saves.

The Hurricanes also missed on multiple late chances to increase their lead, with Jordan Martinook — who had a highlight-reel sliding effort to knock away a loose puck from the goal line midway through the second period — and Jake Guentzel each pinging the metal past Shesterkin to come up empty.

There was also a big opportunity in the third when two Rangers collided and fell to the ice in their own end, leaving top Carolina center Sebastian Aho with a 1-on-1 chance on Shesterkin. But as Aho skated in from the left circle, he went wide right of the net as he tried to move to his backhand.

Those missed chances added up to a brutal exit for the Hurricanes, a team that was in the playoffs for the sixth time in as many seasons under Rod Brind'Amour and has been open about the goal of breaking through to win the Stanley Cup.

Carolina finished three points behind the Rangers for the Presidents’ Trophy awarded to the top team in the regular-season standings, and entered the NHL playoffs as the favorite to win the Stanley Cup, according to Bet MGM Sportsbook. But the Rangers won the first three games by one-goal margins — two coming in overtime — to threaten an unexpectedly quick resolution.

Carolina successfully beat back their power-play struggles for the Game 4 winner to stay alive, then rallied from a 1-0 deficit with four straight third-period goals to win Game 5 in Madison Square Garden and bring the series back to Raleigh.

But days later, the Rangers returned the favor with four straight of their own in the third, leaving a boisterous Hurricanes crowd in stunned disbelief.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) celebrates his goal, next to New York Rangers' Jimmy Vesey (26) during the second period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) celebrates his goal against the New York Rangers during the second period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

New York Rangers' Vincent Trocheck (16) controls the puck in front of Carolina Hurricanes' Jaccob Slavin during the first period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

New York Rangers' Barclay Goodrow (21) moves the puck around Carolina Hurricanes' Dmitry Orlov (7) during the first period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

New York Rangers' Jonny Brodzinski (22) moves the puck around Carolina Hurricanes' Tony DeAngelo (77) during the first period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

Carolina Hurricanes' Brady Skjei (76) protects the puck from New York Rangers' Barclay Goodrow (21) during the first period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

New York Rangers' Ryan Lindgren (55) lands on top of Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) during the second period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

Carolina Hurricanes' Martin Necas (88) shoots against New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (31) during the second period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (31) blocks a Carolina Hurricanes shot during the second period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

Carolina Hurricanes' Frederik Andersen (31) blocks the shot of New York Rangers' Mika Zibanejad, right rear, as Chris Kreider (20) waits for a rebound with Hurricanes' Seth Jarvis (24) nearby during the first period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

New York Rangers' Mika Zibanejad, back right, and Vincent Trocheck (16) celebrate a goal by Chris Kreider on Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen during the third period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

New York Rangers' Chris Kreider, second from right, celebrates his goal against the Carolina Hurricanes with teammates during the third period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)