Stock market today: Wall Street drifts near record highs following recent big moves

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are drifting around their records as financial markets around the world take a pause following big recent moves. The S&P 500 was up 0.1% in early trading Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, and so was the Nasdaq composite. Treasury yields were holding relatively steady, a day after sinking on a surprisingly weak update on consumer confidence. The worst drop in confidence in three years raised worries about the economy, but it also raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will deliver another dose of relief through a bigger-than-usual cut to interest rates at its next meeting.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Trading on Wall Street was quietly mixed before the opening bell Wednesday as markets hovered around record highs.

Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were essentially unchanged from Tuesday’s close.

KB Home tumbled more than 6% in premarket after the homebuilder missed Wall Street profit expectations as demand softened early in the summer. The Los Angeles company noted that orders picked up in August as mortgage rates came down.

SAP fell 2.3% after Bloomberg News reported that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating the German software giant for conspiring with the American company Carahsoft Technology to overcharge U.S. government agencies. Other companies are also being investigated, according to the report.

Online fashion styling service Stitch Fix slid 25% in off-hours trading after it posted a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss. Shares in the San Francisco company, which traded above $100 each early in the pandemic, are poised to open below $3.

Global markets had surged after Beijing announced a flurry of measures aimed at reviving the housing market after a prolonged downturn. That news also boosted prices for oil, copper and other commodities.

However, the cheer brought on by news of a coordinated effort to rev up growth in the world’s second-largest economy appeared to dissipate as the day wore on.

Germany’s DAX lost 0.4% to 18,915.00 and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.5% to 7,563.77. In London, the FTSE 100 edged 0.1% higher, to 8,290.08.

In Asian trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.7% to 19,129.10 after jumping 1.8% earlier in the day and gaining more than 4% the day before. The Shanghai Composite index was 1.2% higher at 2,896.31.

“Chinese policymakers are throwing everything they’ve got to fight off deflation and breathe life into growth. Will it work long-term? Who knows,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 shed 0.2% to 37,870.26, while South Korea’s Kospi sank 1.3% to 2,596.32.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 8,126.40.

The Federal Reserve’s drastic turn last week in how it sets interest rate has buoyed markets. It’s now lowering rates to ease pressure on the U.S. economy after keeping them high for years in hopes of extinguishing high inflation.

Inflation has eased substantially from its peak two summers ago and the main worry occupying investors is that a slowdown in hiring by U.S. companies may worsen.

A report released Tuesday showed U.S. households are feeling more worried about the job market. Their overall confidence level sank in September, according to the Conference Board, instead of rising like economists expected. That’s a big deal because spending by U.S. consumers is the heart of the U.S. economy.

In early Wednesday trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil was down 90 cents at $70.66 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 79 cents to $73.68 per barrel.

The dollar rose to 144.35 Japanese yen from 143.23 yen. The euro climbed to $1.1194 from $1.1180.

Gold continued to surge past record highs, hitting $2,681.10 per ounce.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks drifted to more records, with the S&P 500 closing 0.3% higher at 5,732.93, the 41st all-time high for this year. Gains were tentative, though, and the index wavered up and down following a surprisingly weak report on U.S. consumer confidence.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2% to its own record set the day before, closing at 42,208.22. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.6% to 18,074.52.