Wall Street rises toward more records on expectations for easier interest rates

By STAN CHOE Associated Press Business Writer NEW YORK AP Wall Street is ticking toward more records on Thursday following mixed U S facts that likely keeps the path clear for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in order to boost the commercial sector The S P rose and was on track to set an all-time high for a third straight day The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up points or as of a m Eastern time and the Nasdaq composite was higher coming off its own record Related Articles The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits last week hits most of in nearly years US inflation worsened last month as the cost of gas food and airfares jumped Honda Civic Hatchback proves why its Capturing the world s richest crown Ticker Supply chain prices fall Watchdog to audit Labor stats Treasury yields swiveled a couple times in the bond sphere but remained relatively calm following the economic reports which Wall Street took as cementing the development for a cut to rates at the Fed s meeting next week One of the reports announced more U S workers applied for unemployment benefits last week an indication that the number of layoffs could be rising It s the latest discouraging signal on the job sphere where hiring has slowed substantially The labor field had seemed to be settling into a low-hire low-fire state but an increase in layoffs could put it in an even tighter vise The hope on Wall Street has been for a slowdown but only for a precisely measured one The job region has to be worrying enough to get the Fed to cut interest rates which can give a kickstart to the business sector and to prices for investments but not so weak that it causes a recession The Fed has been hesitant to cut interest rates throughout because of the threat that President Donald Trump s tariffs could make inflation worse That s because lower interest rates can push inflation even higher A review on inflation Thursday presented prices are continuing to rise faster for U S households than the Fed hopes but only by the amount that economists expected Consumers paid prices for food gasoline and other costs of living that were higher in August than a year earlier a slight acceleration from July s inflation rate That s above the Fed s target of but traders believe not by enough to convince the Fed that inflation is the bigger dilemma now for the market than the slowing job realm The Fed has just one tool to fix both problems and moving interest rates to help one often hurts the other in the short term Right now inflation is a key subplot but the labor domain is still the main story according to Ellen Zentner chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management On Wall Street Kroger rose after the grocer disclosed a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected though its revenue came up just shy of forecasts It also raised the bottom end of its forecasted range for profit over the full year Opendoor Technologies jumped after the company which helps people buy and sell homes online revealed it hired Shopify s chief operating officer Kaz Nejatian as its CEO It also stated a million commitment in the company by one of its founders and an resources firm tied to another founder In stock markets abroad European indexes ticked higher after the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at its latest meeting The European bank is on pause following an earlier set of cuts and its president Christine Lagarde commented future moves are not on a predetermined path France s CAC rose and Germany s DAX returned In Asia indexes were mixed Stocks jumped in Shanghai but fell in Hong Kong In the bond realm the yield on the -year Treasury eased to from late Wednesday AP Writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed