Wall Street drifts around its record while the dollar’s value stabilizes

Wall Street drifts around its record while the dollar’s value stabilizes 1 of 2 | Specialist Patrick King, left, and trader Mark Puetzer work on the floor of the NEW YORK Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) 2 of 2 | The Fearless Girl statue stands in the snow in front of the NEW YORK Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) 1 of 2 Specialist Patrick King, left, and trader Mark Puetzer work on the floor of the NEW YORK Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 2 of 2 The Fearless Girl statue stands in the snow in front of the NEW YORK Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is drifting around its all-time high on Wednesday, while the U.S. dollar’s value stabilizes against other currencies after falling to its lowest level in nearly four years.The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% from its latest record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 17 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 1:52 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.Seagate Technology jumped 19.3% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the seller of hard drives and other data-storage products reported bigger profit and revenue than analysts expected. CEO Dave Mosley cited artificial-intelligence applications for its strong performance, among other things.Nvidia, the stock that’s become the poster child of the AI boom, climbed 1.7% and was the strongest single force lifting the S&P 500. It also benefited from an encouraging report from ASML, whose machinery helps make chips. The Dutch company gave a forecast for 2026 revenue that topped analysts’ expectations, and CEO Christophe Fouquet saidits customers have been notably more encouraged about the medium term because of expectations for “the sustainability” of AI demand. That helped allay some concerns that the AI frenzy has gone overboard and created a potential bubble that may burst. Elevance Health was another winner and rose 5.9% after reporting a stronger profit than analysts expected. That helped it recover some of its stock’s 14.3% sell-off from the prior day, when it and other health insurers got walloped by a proposed rate increase for Medicare Advantage by the U.S. government that fell well short of what investors hoped. On the losing end of Wall Street was Amphenol, whose stock tumbled 10.6% even though the maker of fiber-optic connectors and other high-tech equipment reported stronger growth in profit and revenue for the end of 2025 than analysts had forecast. Expectations were high for the company after its stock came into the day with an already big surge of 23% for the young year so far. Companies across the market are under pressure to deliver solid growth in profits following the record-setting runs for their stock prices. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term, and earnings need to rise to quiet criticism that stock prices have grown too expensive.Apple slipped 1% ahead of its profit report coming on Thursday, and it was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500.In the foreign-currency market, the U.S. dollar found some stability after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on CNBC that the U.S. government is not intervening in the currency market and continues to want a “strong dollar.” The dollar was up against the British pound, Japanese yen and others, a day after an index measuring the U.S. dollar’s value against several of its peers dropped to its weakest level since early 2022. The dollar’s value has been generally falling since President Donald Trump entered the White House last year, and its descent accelerated after Trump threatened tariffs earlier this month against several European countries that he said opposed his taking control of Greenland. Such threats, along with worries about risks like the U.S. government’s heavy debt, have periodically pushed global investors to step away from U.S. markets, a move that’s come to be called “Sell America.”In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher ahead of an announcement coming in the afternoon from the Federal Reserve on interest rates. The widespread expectation is that it will hold its main interest rate steady. The Fed cut rates several times last year in hopes of shoring up the job market, but inflation remains stubbornly above its 2% target. Lower interest rates could worsen inflation while giving the economy a boost. Lower interest rates could also further undercut the U.S. dollar’s value, which would help U.S. exporters. Trump has been pushing aggressively for lower rates.The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.26% from 4.24% late Tuesday. As global investors have stepped away from the U.S. dollar due to political instability and other worries, prices have surged for gold and other metals as investors searched for something safer to own. Gold’s price topped $5,000 per ounce this week for the first time, and it added another 3.8% to $5,276.70.In stock markets abroad, indexes sank in Europe following better performances in Asia.South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.7% to another record, thanks in part to a 5.1% leap for chip company SK Hynix, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rallied 2.6%. ___AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.