NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is rising toward the finish of an eighth straight winning week on Friday, which would be its longest such streak since 2023.
The S&P 500 added 0.6% and pulled closer to its all-time high set in the middle of last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 307 points, or 0.6%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher.
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Options trader Steven Rodriguez, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A dealer talks on the phone at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Asia markets index of Japan, South Korea and Australia is seen on a screen at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Ross Stores climbed 7.7% after the off-price retailer reported profit and revenue for the latest quarter that easily cleared analysts’ expectations. CEO Jim Conroy said it saw strong customer traffic through the three months, and the company may have benefited from households spending their tax refunds.
Estee Lauder jumped 11.5% after saying it was no longer considering a possible merger with Puig, the Spanish fragrance and beauty products company.
Workday rose 6.5%, and Zoom Communications jumped 15.5% after both delivered better profit reports for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
They’re the latest companies to join the long list topping analysts’ expectations for growth in profit for the start of 2026. Such strong reports have helped U.S. stocks rally to records, even as pressure grows from high inflation created by the war with Iran.
Oil prices were calmer Friday following yo-yo moves earlier in the week. They’ve been swinging hour-to-hour because of uncertainty about when the United States and Iran may find a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which would allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf again and deliver crude to customers worldwide.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 0.5% to $103.05. Benchmark U.S. crude, meanwhile, rose 0.4% to $96.68 per barrel after erasing an earlier modest dip.
Worries about inflation staying high because of the war have pushed bond yields higher worldwide, threatening to slow economies worldwide and undercut prices for stocks, bitcoin and all kinds of other investments. They’ve already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the AI data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.
Yields eased a bit Friday, releasing some of the pressure on the stock market.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.54% from 4.57% late Thursday, though it remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 2.7% to another record after a report showed inflation hitting a four-year low in April, at 1.4%, despite higher prices for oil and gas due to the war.
AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
Options trader Steven Rodriguez, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A dealer talks on the phone at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Asia markets index of Japan, South Korea and Australia is seen on a screen at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is heading to a toss-up congressional district in New York on Friday to test his midterm message on the economy, even as voters largely disapprove of his stewardship of it.
Trump will travel to the Hudson Valley area to appear with Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who is up for reelection in what will be one of the most closely watched House races this November. The focus of the event is to promote the tax law Trump signed last year, particularly the quadrupling of the deduction for state and local taxes, which is critical in a high-tax state like New York.
The White House has been looking for more opportunities to highlight Trump’s economic accomplishments as his approval rating on the economy has slumped. About one-third of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling the economy, according to a new AP-NORC poll, down slightly from 40% at the start of Trump's second term. Trump had promised to bring prices down, but gasoline prices have surged this year due to the war in Iran.
Lawler is just one of three House Republicans who represent a district won by Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in 2024. Unlike the other two — retiring Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon and Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who’s been a critic of Trump policies — Lawler has chosen to embrace the polarizing president in hopes of not alienating Republican voters who support the party’s leader.
“Look, the people who hate the president -- and that’s their sole basis for their vote -- are likely never voting for me, and you know, obviously, you need to turn out your base, and you need people energized,” Lawler told The Associated Press in an interview on the sidelines of the White House congressional picnic earlier this week. “Moreover, I have a record in my district that is one I’m very proud of, and a record that appeals to a broad middle.”
Lawler, wearing a red ball cap emblazoned with “Mr. SALT,” the acronym for the state and local tax deduction he fought to include in the bill, added: “I am confident that I will be reelected on my own merits and my own record.”
The president’s remarks at Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York, will “highlight his strong record of making life more affordable for working families,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said. She added that Trump plans to draw a sharp contrast with Democrats in Congress, who voted against the tax law.
Trump established a SALT cap in 2017 through his Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Last year’s law expanded the SALT deduction to $40,000 from $10,000 after arduous negotiations with Republicans, including Lawler, whose district has high local taxes. The law also raised the average tax refund for New Yorkers to more than $3,800, according to data provided by the White House.
“My constituents were seeing anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 refund checks, which is pretty massive,” said Lawler, who said he wanted to give Trump one of his “Mr. SALT” ball caps.
Trump formally endorsed Lawler for reelection last year, although it came at a time when the congressman was publicly mulling a run for governor of New York. The endorsement was viewed as a way to keep Lawler in a reelection bid rather than opening up a competitive House seat.
Five Democrats are vying for the party's nomination to compete against Lawler in the general election. The Democratic primary is June 23.
“Nothing says ‘I don’t understand my district’ quite like Mike Lawler bringing Donald Trump to NY-17 to tout a disastrous economy that’s crushing working families at every turn,” said Riya Vashi, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Richard Hudson disputed that, arguing that Trump's Friday appearance will “absolutely” help.
“His poll numbers are pretty good in Lawler’s district,” said Hudson, a North Carolina congressman. The NRCC has been polling in competitive districts and Hudson said the “president’s numbers are good. Democratic numbers are tanking.”
The remarks are an official White House event and not a campaign one, said Lawler, who noted that more than 5,000 people registered to attend in the first 12 hours that a sign-up was available.
Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump attends an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
