Wall Street glides to the end of its best month since 2023

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street closed its winning week and month with a quiet Friday following a mixed set of profit reports from Gap, Ulta Beauty and other companies navigating the challenges created by President Donald Trump’s on-and-off tariffs.

The S&P 500 finished the day nearly unchanged after edging down by less than 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 54 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%.

Gap weighed on the market even though the retailer reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

The company behind Banana Republic and Old Navy fell 20.2% after saying tariffs on imports from China and other countries could add up to $300 million to its costs this fiscal year. It has strategies set to mitigate up to half of that before it hits its profits.

This week and month on Wall Street have been dominated by questions about what will happen with Trump’s tariffs, which investors worry could grind the economy into a recession, slash companies’ profits and layer even more challenges on households already sick of inflation.

Hopes had largely been rising that the worst of such worries had passed, which in turn sent stocks rallying, after Trump paused his tariffs on both China and the European Union. A U.S. court then on Wednesday blocked many of Trump’s sweeping tariffs. It all sent the S&P 500 in May to its first winning month in four and its best since November.

But the tariffs remain in place for now while the White House appeals the ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the ultimate outcome is still uncertain.

Trump also briefly shook markets shortly before Wall Street opened for trading Friday, when he accused China of not living up to its end of the agreement that paused their tariffs against each other.

“So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

The impact was limited though, and futures for U.S. stock indexes quickly pared their losses. Since Wednesday’s ruling, analysts and investors have been saying Trump and his administration would likely look for new avenues to impose tariffs on trading partners.

Trump has said he’s using tariffs to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States and that U.S. households and businesses may feel some pain in the process.

Friday’s most influential losses came from several Big Tech stocks. Nvidia fell 2.9% to give back some of its gain from earlier in the week after it topped analysts’ expectations for profit in the latest quarter. It was the single heaviest weight by far on the S&P 500.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Ulta Beauty, which rose 11.8% after the retailer reported stronger sales and profit than analysts forecast. It also raised the top end of its forecasted range for revenue this fiscal year even though CEO Kecia Steelman called the operating environment “fluid.”

Costco climbed 3.1% after the retailer’s results and revenue for the latest quarter edged past analysts’ expectations.

Red Robin Gourmet Burger soared 62.9% after reporting a profit for the latest quarter, when analysts expected a loss.

Shares of SharpLink Gaming fell 3.2% to trim their gain for the week to a still-whopping 1,041.4% after the marketing company said it would raise $425 million to buy the cryptocurrency on the Ethereum blockchain. The company delivers leads to U.S. sportsbooks and global casino companies, and it has been expanding into the global crypto gaming market.

All told, the S&P 500 edged down 0.48 to 5,911.69 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 54.34 to 42,270.07, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 62.11 to 19,113.77.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after a report showed that the measure of inflation that the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower in April than economists expected.

A separate report from the University of Michigan said that sentiment among U.S. consumers was better in May than economists expected. Sentiment improved in the back half of the month after Trump paused many of his tariffs on China.

“Overall, consumers see the outlook for the economy as no worse than last month, but they remained quite worried about the future,” according to Survey of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.39% from 4.43% late Thursday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do with overnight interest rates, slipped to 3.90% from 3.92%.

The Fed has left its benchmark borrowing rate steady so far this year after cutting it at the end of 2024 to give the economy more breathing room. Fed officials have said they want to wait longer to see how tariffs will affect inflation and the economy before making their next move. While lower interest rates can give the economy a boost, they can also fan inflation higher.

In stock markets abroad, European indexes were mixed, while Asian markets fell.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

Specialist Gennaro Saporito, left, and trader Patrick Casey work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, May 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer watches computer monitors near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer watches computer monitors at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Close to grabbing a franchise record all for himself, Kawhi Leonard elected to take a pass in order to be fresh for another day.

Team-oriented to the core, Leonard was actually a bit selfish by request Sunday, scoring a career-high 55 points to lift the Los Angeles Clippers to a 112-99 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons.

The Clippers are now on a season-best four-game winning streak and a recent scoring burst from Leonard is the primary reason.

Leonard was told by head coach Tyronn Lue he was closing in on the franchise scoring record but decided to keep his fourth-quarter floor time to a modest six minutes and departed with just under a minute remaining.

He now shares the team mark for points in a game with teammate James Harden.

“Like I told (Lue), I would rather play another game than go out there and risk it,” Leonard said. “Hopefully we can get another win and be in the same situation. It is what it is.”

Harden teased Leonard afterward that it took him long enough to pull off a 50-point game, while also shouting “double nickels,” in the locker room afterward. Leonard is in his 14th season.

“It was a beautiful thing to see how efficient, how effortless it was,” Harden said. “It was just so smooth. He got to whatever spot he wanted to and once you get to that spot it’s not even about the defender. It’s about him making the shot.

“Overly happy for him because behind the scenes you watch somebody and how hard they work. ... For him, what he had to battle through just to go out there and be himself was a beautiful thing to see.”

Slowed by knee injuries in recent years, Leonard missed 10 games earlier this season with ankle and foot issues. He finally reached 40 minutes in a game during a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers last week that started the winning streak. He did it again in a victory Friday.

He went 17 of 26 from the floor against the Pistons and 16 of 17 from the free-throw line while playing 39 minutes.

“He’s finally getting healthy and finally being able to play enough minutes to be very effective,” Lue said. “When he’s healthy, he’s one of the top guys in the league. We’ve been able to see that of late.”

With a 41-point game Tuesday against the Houston Rockets, Leonard is the second player in franchise history to score at least 40 points in back-to-back home games along with Bob McAdoo.

Leonard scored 26 points in the third quarter alone Sunday, but he also missed his lone free throw of the night in the period. It not only was the point he needed to set the franchise scoring record, the miss ended his franchise-record run at 64 consecutive made free throws.

“I’ve never really kind of been in this situation,” said Leonard, who is averaging 39.0 points over the last four games. “I’m more trying to get guys the ball and sharing it more than what I have been doing. But the coaches need me to be aggressive the entire game.

“It’s just a different evolution of me trying to shoot more 3s and trying to evolve my game to today’s game.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard controls the ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives the ball while under pressure from Detroit Pistons guard Ausar Thompson during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard dunks during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard controls the ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)