Stock market today: Wall Street closes its record-setting week mixed as FedEx slumps and Nike jumps

NEW YORK (AP) — A record-setting week for Wall Street closed on a quieter note Friday, as U.S. stocks drifted around the highs they hit during a worldwide rally the day before.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% from its record, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, added 38 points, or 0.1%, to its all-time high.

FedEx dragged on the market with a drop of 15.2% after its profit and revenue for the latest quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations. It said U.S. customers sent fewer packages through priority services, while it had to contend with higher wages for workers and other costs. FedEx also cut its forecast for revenue growth for its fiscal year.

Helping to limit the market’s losses was Nike, which ran 6.8% higher after it named Elliott Hill as its chief executive. Hill, 60, had spent more than three decades at Nike in various leadership positions before retiring in 2020. Constellation Energy also leaped 22.3% after announcing it will restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant and sell the power to Microsoft.

Shares in Trump Media and Technology Group fell 7.8% as its biggest shareholder, former President Donald Trump, won the freedom to sell his shares if he wants.

Trump owns more than half of the $2.7 billion company behind the Truth Social platform. But Trump and other insiders in the company had been unable to cash in because a “lock-up agreement” prevented them from selling any of their shares. Before the lockup expired, Trump said he was in no rush to sell.

TMTG stock has dropped below $14 from more than $60 in March, and it’s taken a roller-coaster ride there. Over the last six months, the stock has often swung by at least 5% in a day, up or down.

Homebuilder Lennar fell 5.3% after delivering a mixed earnings report. Its profit for the latest quarter topped expectations. But it also said it made less in profit on each $100 of home sales, and it expects that margin to stay flat in the current quarter.

Conditions may be set to improve for homebuilders, though. The Federal Reserve earlier this week cut its main interest rate for the first time in more than four years, with more likely to come. That could make mortgages more affordable for home buyers.

The cut closed the door on a run where the Fed kept its main interest rate at a two-decade high in hopes of slowing the U.S. economy enough to stamp out high inflation. Now that inflation has fallen from its peak two summers ago, Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed can focus more on keeping the job market solid and the economy out of a recession.

The Fed is still under pressure because hiring has begun to slow under the weight of higher interest rates. Some critics say the central bank waited too long to cut rates and may have damaged the economy.

Critics also say the U.S. stock market may be running too hot on the belief the Federal Reserve will pull off what seemed nearly impossible earlier: getting inflation down to 2% without creating a recession.

Barry Bannister, chief equity strategist at Stifel, is still calling for a sharp drop for the S&P 500 by the end of the year. He points to how much faster stock prices have climbed than profits at companies. When stocks have looked this expensive on such measures in the past, he said a recession and sharp downturn for stocks has followed.

He also warned in a report that slowing hiring “is now symbolic of recession risk.”

No economic releases were on the calendar for Friday to show where the economy may be heading. Next week will have preliminary reports on U.S. business activity, the final revision for how quickly the economy grew during the spring and the latest update on spending by U.S. consumers.

The S&P 500 ended this week at 5,702.55 after slipping 11.09 points. The Dow rose 38.17 to 42,063.36, and the Nasdaq fell 65.66 to 17,948.32.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury ticked up to 3.74% from 3.72% late Thursday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes slumped across much of Europe after rising in Asia. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.5% after the Bank of Japan left interest rates steady, as was expected.

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AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed

A bus passes the Wall St. subway station on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

Trader Michale Conlon, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's news conference appears on a television screen behind him, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index and Japanese Yen exchange rate at a securities firm Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People ride bicycles in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person rides a bicycle in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

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Sam Darnold is realizing his potential on his fourth stop. Baker Mayfield and Geno Smith did the same. Jared Goff found his way on his second team.

Some quarterbacks just need a second chance. Or third. Or fourth.

Darnold was supposed to be a stopgap player in Minnesota, signed to a one-year, $10 million deal to keep a seat warm for J.J. McCarthy. But the rookie first-round pick suffered a season-ending knee injury in August and Darnold has seized the opportunity.

The Vikings (5-0) are the NFC’s only undefeated team going into their bye week and Darnold is a major reason why they’ve had success. He has completed 63.5% of his passes for 1,111 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions with a 103.4 passer rating.

“I knew all along if we could get some guys open, Sam Darnold’s going to hit them because he’s talented. He can play quarterback in the NFL, I’ve always believed that. I’m just proud of him,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said on Pat McAfee’s show this week. "He’s kind of not really worried about anything other than just his role on our team. He’s one of our captains. He works as hard as anybody to be ready to go. I’m not surprised when he goes out and has success.”

Selected by the Jets with the No. 3 overall pick in 2018, Darnold lasted just three seasons in New York. He played for two coaches — Todd Bowles and Adam Gase — on teams that went 13-35. Darnold then spent two seasons in Carolina, playing for two coaches — Matt Rhule and Steve Wilks — and three offensive coordinators on teams that went 12-22.

He crossed over with Mayfield during a chaotic year in Carolina in 2022 and backed up Brock Purdy last season in San Francisco. Mayfield went from the Panthers to the Rams in 2022 and ended up in Tampa Bay last year.

Solid coaching and supporting cast matters.

Darnold has it in Minnesota with O’Connell, Justin Jefferson, Aaron Jones, among others.

“A lot of guys with ability and sometimes they get in a different circumstance or different system and they excel in it and then other times they don’t,” six-time Super Bowl champion coach Bill Belichick said on SiriusXM show “Let’s Go!” “I think we’ve all seen a lot of guys, the Tom Bradys of the world, how much he improved over the course of his career, it’s really phenomenal. It’s not where you were. It’s where you’re going and how hard are you willing to work at it.”

Darnold refused to blame the culture in New York and the organizational instability for his failure to succeed.

“I had a lot of opportunities in New York and I always felt like I could have played better there,” Darnold said last week in London before the Vikings beat Aaron Rodgers and the Jets 23-17.

Darnold wasn’t at his best against his former team. He completed just 45.2% of his passes and had a 50.3 passer rating, the first time he was under 100 this season.

But Darnold displayed poise and resilience. He bounced back from a pick and threw a 25-yard pass to Jefferson on second-and-9 to extend a fourth-quarter drive that ended with a field goal after the Jets had closed to 20-17.

“What I was proud of with Sam was it was another example of when momentum had kind of turned in many ways by our own doing, he was able to jog back out on that field, walk into the huddle and move the team,” O’Connell said.

Darnold probably would’ve been a candidate for the Comeback Player of the Year award before the AP issued guidance to voters before the season, instructing them that “the spirit of the award is to honor a player who has demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity by overcoming illness, physical injury or other circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season.”

If he keeps playing at this level, Darnold could end up with another award: Most Valuable Player.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Minnesota Vikings' Sam Darnold warms up before an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in London. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in London. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold is introduced before an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in London. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)