US stocks head toward seventh straight week with gains

US stocks are currently hovering around their record highs. They are poised to end the longest weekly winning streak in six years. With a 0.1% decrease in morning trade, the S&P 500 is now 1.7% behind its all-time high from early in the previous year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had just broken a record for the second consecutive day, was down 66 points, or 0.2%, per day. The increase on the Nasdaq composite was 0.3%. and are on track to close out its longest weekly winning streak in six years.

The S&P 500 was 0.1% lower in morning trading, within 1.7% of its all-time high set early last year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 66 points or 0.2% a day after setting a record for the second straight time. The Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher.

The company behind Olive Garden, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and other restaurant chains sank 2.2% despite reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Darden Restaurants gave a forecast for revenue for its full fiscal year that fell short of analysts’ forecasts.

A 3.5% gain for Costco helped offset that weakness. It rose after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected and saying it will send $6.7 billion in cash to its shareholders through a special $15 dividend.

Stocks overall have bolted higher this week after the Fed seemingly gave a nod toward the hopes that have sent Wall Street screaming higher since autumn.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell did not forcefully push back on traders’ expectations that inflation has cooled enough for the central bank to not only halt its market-hurting hikes to interest rates but to consider cutting rates. The S&P 500 has jumped roughly 15% since late October on rising hopes for just such a shift.

Treasury yields have plummeted in the bond market because to expectations that the Fed will lower rates multiple times in 2024, relieving pressure on the stock market.

The 10-year yield gradually levelled off on Friday, slipping from late Thursday’s 3.92% to 3.91%. For the first time since 2020, rate cuts are expected to outnumber hikes in 2024, according to Bank of America’s prediction of 152 rate reductions from central banks worldwide.


Markets are all in on the Fed’s infallibility given the enormous rallies thus far. Higher stock prices and lower Treasury yields can stimulate consumer and company spending, which supports a robust economy but also pushes inflation higher.