Written by David French
(Reuters) – The index ended higher on Wednesday, extending its winning streak to six in a row and closing above 39,000 points for the first time in five weeks, as investors continued to bet on supportive US monetary policy.
Other Wall Street indexes calmed slightly as momentum stalled and US Treasury yields rose on the day of the 10-year bond auction. The index finished unchanged after four sessions of gains, falling to its second straight decline.
There wasn't much news to move the needles, other than reports from individual companies.
“We're just waiting for the next catalyst to start a trend in the market, and we'll likely get that next week,” said Anthony Saglimbini, chief market strategist at Ameriprise. The Producer Price Index (PPI) is due on May 14, and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on May 15.
“I think traders are hesitant to lift the broader stocks or the broader averages until they get a new update on inflation,” he added.
The S&P 500 settled near the 5,200 mark, above which it last closed on April 9. On Wednesday, it was hampered by a decline in shares of Uber (NYSE:), which posted a surprise quarterly loss and issued a downbeat outlook.
The passenger transportation services company's stock fell by 5.7%, and was among the biggest losers on the Standard & Poor's 500 index, after it expected that total bookings in the second quarter would not meet expectations.
Tesla (NASDAQ:) stock fell 1.7% after Reuters reported that US prosecutors are examining whether the company committed financial irregularities or online fraud by misleading investors and consumers about the self-driving capabilities of its electric cars.
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Other major stocks like Nvidia (O:), Amazon (NASDAQ:) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:) fell between 0.2% and 1.1%, as the price rose.
The rise in yields helped dampen optimism stemming from a positive earnings season and weaker-than-expected labor market data last week that eased concerns about the Fed keeping interest rates high for longer.
Traders expect a 67% chance the Fed will cut interest rates by at least 25 basis points in September, according to CMEGroup's Fedwatch tool, up from about 54% a week ago.
Fed policymakers who spoke on Wednesday remained consistent with recent messaging, including the US central bank's policy meeting last week.
Boston President Susan Collins said the current state of monetary policy will slow the economy in the way she believes will be necessary to bring inflation back to the Fed's 2% target.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 172.13 points, or 0.44%, to 39,056.39 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 0.03 points, or 0.00%, to 5,187.67 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 29.80 points, or 0.18%, to 16,302.76 points.
Among Standard & Poor's sectors, the utility stock rose 1.1%, continuing its path of high finishes to 14 sessions out of 16 sessions, supported by Vistra Corp's stock jumping 9.1% after announcing strong profits.
However, seven of the 11 sectors declined, with real estate, materials and consumer goods the worst performers.
Intel (NASDAQ:) stock fell 2.2% after warning of lower sales from the US due to the cancellation of some of the chipmaker's export licenses to China.
Tripadvisor stock fell 28.7%, its biggest ever drop in a single day, after the online travel agency ruled out a potential sale at this time and posted a surprise quarterly loss.
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Uber competitor Lyft (NASDAQ:) rose 7.1% after forecasting higher-than-expected gross bookings and core earnings for the current quarter.
The S&P 500 recorded 32 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows while the Nasdaq 50 recorded 10 new highs and 83 new lows.