Wall Street drifts as Intel tumbles and gold's price rises to another record

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market drifted through mixed trading Friday, as a zigzag week punctuated by loud threats and pullbacks finished with a quiet and tentative close.

The S&P 500 was basically flat and edged up by less than 0.1% but still notched a second straight week with a modest loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 285 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%.

The majority of stocks on Wall Street fell, and Intel weighed on the market after tumbling 17%. The chip company reported better results for the end of 2025 than analysts expected. But investors focused instead on its forecast for the first three months of this year, which fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.

Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner said shortages of supplies are affecting the entire industry, and Intel expects available supply to hit a bottom early this year before improving in the spring and beyond. CEO Lip-Bu Tan highlighted the company’s opportunities created by the artificial-intelligence era.

Moves in the U.S. bond market were relatively modest following sharp swings early in the week, but other markets still showed potential signs of nervousness.

The U.S. dollar’s value fell against the Japanese yen, Swiss franc and other currencies. It had slid sharply early in the week after President Donald Trump threatened 10% tariffs on European countries for opposing his push to own Greenland.

That drop, paired with declines for prices for U.S. Treasury bonds, had suggested global investors may be backing out of U.S. markets. But some relief came on Wednesday after Trump announced “the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland” and called off the tariffs, though few details are available about it.

Gold’s price, meanwhile, rose to another record Friday and neared $5,000 per ounce in a signal that investors are still looking for something safer to own. It’s already up nearly 15% for the year so far.

On Wall Street, Capital One Financial sank 7.6% after reporting a weaker profit for the end of 2025 than analysts expected. It also said it was buying Brex, which helps businesses issue corporate credit cards, for $5.15 billion in cash and stock.

On the winning side of the market was CSX, which climbed 2.4% even though the railroad reported a weaker profit than analysts expected. Some analysts highlighted the company’s forecast for how much more operating profit it expects to retain from each $1 of revenue during 2026.

Clorox gained 1.1% after saying it was buying the maker of Purell, GOJO Industries, for $2.25 billion in cash.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 2.26 points to 6,915.61. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 285.30 to 49,098.71, and the Nasdaq composite rose 65.22 to 23,501.24.

In the bond market, Treasury yields inched lower as prices for U.S. government bonds rose.

A survey of U.S. consumers said expectations for inflation in the upcoming year improved to 4%. That’s the lowest such reading in a year, according to the University of Michigan’s survey, even it remains well above the 2% inflation that the Federal Reserve targets.

That kind of improvement could help avoid a worst-case scenario the Fed has been desperate to avoid, one where expectations for high inflation trigger a vicious cycle of behavior that only worsens inflation.

Overall sentiment among U.S. consumers was also a touch stronger than economists expected. That could help keep them spending and the main engine of the U.S. economy humming. A separate preliminary report from S&P Global suggested growth is continuing for U.S. business activity.

The yield of the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.23% from 4.26% late Thursday.

The Fed’s next chance to move the short-term interest rate it controls will come on Wednesday, but the widespread expectation is that it will hold steady.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe after rising across much of Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.3% after the Bank of Japan kept its key interest rate unchanged, as many investors expected. The central bank has been slowly pulling its policy rate higher from below zero and had raised it to 0.75% in December.

Global markets have calmed after struggling with a quick surge for long-term government bond yields in Japan early in the week. The move higher came on worries that Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi might make moves that would add heavily to the government’s already big debt.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Traders John Romolo, left, and Michael Conlon work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Chris Dattolo, center, works with fellow options traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Traders Joseph Lawler, left, and Niall Pawa work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Vincent Napolitano works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Morning commuters pass the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Morning commuters pass the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

MILAN (AP) — Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin were the beneficiaries of another unpredictable night of Olympic figure skating.

The German pair, who have struggled with consistency themselves, made it through their short program cleanly while all of the other favorites faltered Sunday night, giving them a comfortable lead going into the free skate at the Milan Cortina Games.

Performing to “El Abrazo” by French composer Maxime Rodriguez, Hase and Volodin opened with a brilliant triple twist, landed their side-by-side triple salchows, and their throw triple loop put an exclamation mark on a program that earned them 80.01 points.

“Our goal was to go out there and feel like we do in practice and just do our job,” Hase said. “So we tried to do that and then after the program we were happy that everything worked out. The crowd was amazing. They supported us a lot. So we are happy overall. But it was just the first part. So tomorrow we have to do the same again.”

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava, who made a mistake on their throw triple flip but were otherwise solid, were well behind in second place with 75.46 points as they try to give Georgia its first ever medal at the Winter Games.

Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud of Canada were third with 74.60 in what could be a tight competition for the podium Monday night.

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, the world champions from Japan and heavy favorites to win gold, will have to stage a big comeback after a major mistake on their lift cost them nearly six points. Miura awkwardly slid off Kihara's shoulders near the end of the element, and that error was enough to send them tumbling all the way to fifth place with 73.11 points.

By comparison, Miura and Kihara scored a career-best 82.84 points for the same program during the team event last weekend.

The defending Olympic champions, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, went long before the rest of the favorites because the order is based partly on world rankings. And because they only began a comeback last June after a two-year retirement brought on by Han's injuries, their ranking had suffered, and they wound up being the second pair to take the ice.

They also became the first of the favorites to stumble; Sui fell on their opening triple toe loop and they finished with 72.66 points.

“This is a good memory because this is our third time at the Olympics,” Han said. “We wanted to show what we have now.”

Former world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek, the 42-year-old from the Chicago area, and her Canadian partner Maxime Deschamps weren’t even sure they would compete at these Olympics when she sustained a head injury in a recent practice fall.

They had a strong program going until Stellato-Dudek’s fluke fall at the end of their reverse lasso lift. They scored just 66.04.

“That has never happened before. It was the first time,” Stellato-Dudek said. “I guess it cost us around 10 points.”

Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, who helped the U.S. capture team gold last week, were the top American pair in seventh place with 71.87 points. Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe, a private first class in the U.S. Army, were ninth with 70.06 points.

“Everybody’s goal is to go out there and skate clean and nail all the elements,” Howe said. “For me, a big goal has always been getting out there and feeling good. Because if you can feel good, then you have your best chances of delivering what you need to do.”

The Americans have not won an Olympic pairs medal since 1988, but they appear to be on an upswing in the discipline. And their top team, national champs Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, isn't even at the Winter Games because the Finish-born Efimova was not able to secure her American citizenship in time, which is one of the requirements of the International Olympic Committee.

“There are some amazing pairs teams within the U.S., and I think that you’ll see all three of them at the world championships this year,” O'Shea said. “It’s awesome, because pairs in the U.S. is very dear to my heart.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Sui Wenjing stumbles with her partner Han Cong of China compete during the pairs figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea of the United States compete during the pairs figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan react after competing during the pairs figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud of Canada compete during the pairs figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany compete during the pairs figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)