Stock market today: Wall Street stays stuck in place as it counts down to a rate cut

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes remained stuck in place on Tuesday as Wall Street made few big moves ahead of what’s expected to be the first cut to interest rates in more than four years.

The S&P 500 edged up by 1.49, or less than 0.1%, to 5,634.58. It remains 0.6% below its all-time closing high set in July, and it briefly rose above that mark during the morning.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 15.90 points, or less than 0.1%, to 41,606.18 from its own record set the day before, while the Nasdaq composite edged up by 35.93, or 0.2%, to 17,628.06.

Intel helped drive the market with a gain of 2.7% following a series of announcements, including an expansion of its partnership with Amazon Web Services to produce custom chips. Intel also detailed plans to build its foundry business.

That helped offset a 2.2% drop for Philip Morris International, which said it expects to record a loss of $220 million against its third-quarter results because of the sale of its Vectura Group inhaled-therapeutics subsidiary.

The calm movements for the U.S. stock market overall were a sharp departure from prior weeks, during which the S&P 500 briefly fell nearly 10% below its all-time high. At the time, global markets were reeling on worries that a slowing U.S. economy could fall into a recession, along with some technical factors that forced hedge funds around the world to back out of a popular trade all at once.

Since then, excitement has built about an announcement scheduled for Wednesday afternoon from the Federal Reserve. The unanimous expectation on Wall Street is that the Fed will cut the federal funds rate, which has been sitting in a range of 5.25% to 5.50% for more than a year.

Lower rates would make things easier for the economy, which has already begun to slow because it’s become so expensive to borrow money for everything from houses to cars to corporate debt. The Fed has been keeping its main interest rate at a two-decade high in hopes of grinding down on the economy enough to stifle high inflation.

Now that inflation is down substantially from its peak two summers ago, the Fed believes it can shift its focus more toward protecting the job market and economy. The only question is how much the Fed will cut rates by, and that is a delicate balancing act.

While lowering rates gives a boost to the overall economy and to financial markets, it can also give inflation more fuel. Some critics say the Fed is already moving too late to help the economy, while others warn of inflation staying stubbornly higher than it has in the past.

The general expectation on Wall Street is for the Fed to deliver a larger-than-usual cut of half of a percentage point on Wednesday, according to data from CME Group. But it’s not a certainty. Traders are still betting on a 35% probability for a traditional-sized move of a quarter of a percentage point,

Economic reports released Tuesday did little to change those expectations. One said U.S. shoppers spent more at retailers last month than expected. That’s an encouraging signal indicating strength for the heart of the U.S. economy, but details underneath the surface may have been more discouraging. After ignoring automobiles and fuel, sales at U.S. retailers last month were a touch weaker than economists expected.

“This data isn’t going to decide the issue for the Fed, one way or the other,” Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley, said about the size of Wednesday’s rate cut.

A separate report that came later in the morning said U.S. industrial production returned to growth in August and was stronger than economists expected.

In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 3.64% from 3.62% late Monday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed’s actions, rose to 3.59% from 3.56%.

In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1% after the value the Japanese yen ticked higher against the U.S. dollar.

The yen has been rising on expectations the Bank of Japan will continue to head in the opposite direction of the Federal Reserve and keep raising interest rates. A stronger yen can hurt the profits of Japan’s big exporters.

Stock indexes rose modestly across much of Europe, while markets were closed in mainland China and South Korea.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

The New York Stock Exchange, with a banner for American Eagle Outfitters, is shown on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

FILE - The American flag hangs from the front of the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

FILE - A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm in Tokyo, on May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

FILE - People walk in front of Tokyo Stock Exchange building in Tokyo, on May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A 24-year-old man was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of an elderly Thai man whose 2021 killing in San Francisco helped spark a national movement against anti-Asian American violence.

A jury did not find Antoine Watson guilty of murder when it returned a verdict Thursday for the January 2021 attack on 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee. Jurors found Watson guilty on the lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault.

The office of San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins declined to comment, saying that the jury was still empaneled. Jurors will return Jan. 26 to hear arguments on aggravating factors and sentencing will be scheduled once that is completed, the office said in an email.

Vicha Ratanapakdee was out for his usual morning walk in the quiet neighborhood he lived in with his wife, daughter and her family when Watson charged at him and knocked him to the ground. The encounter was captured on a neighbor's security camera. Ratanapakdee died two days later, never regaining consciousness.

His family says he was attacked because of his race, but hate crime charges were not filed and the argument was not raised in trial. Prosecutors have said hate crimes are difficult to prove absent statements by the suspect.

Watson testified on the stand that he was in a haze of confusion and anger at the time of the unprovoked attack, according to KRON-TV. He said he lashed out and didn't know that Ratanapakdee was Asian or elderly.

San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju, whose office defended Watson, extended his sympathies to the victim's family and said the defendant is “fully remorseful for his mistake.”

“While this death was a terrible tragedy and has garnered a lot of press attention, the importance of our legal system is that it gives us a chance to look at the facts in a balanced way,” he said in a statement.

Hundreds of people in five other U.S. cities joined in commemorating the anniversary of Ratanapakdee's death in 2022, all of them seeking justice for Asian Americans who have been harassed, assaulted, and even killed in alarming numbers since the start of the pandemic.

Asians in America have long been subject to prejudice and discrimination, but the attacks escalated sharply after the coronavirus first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. More than 10,000 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported to the Stop AAPI Hate coalition from March 2020 through September 2021.

The incidents involved shunning, racist taunting and physical assaults.

FILE - Flowers are left with pictures of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee during a rally attended by hundreds of people on Jan. 30, 2022, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Janie Har, File)

FILE - Monthanus Ratanapakdee holds a photo of her father, 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee, and stands in front of the San Francisco apartment building where he was attacked last year and later died of his injuries, on Jan. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Terry Chea, File)