Wall Street inches closer to its all-time high
[December 05, 2025] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market held near its records in a quiet
day of trading on Thursday, continuing its relatively calm run following
weeks of sharp and scary swings.
The S&P 500 inched up by 0.1% and is just 0.5% below its all-time high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 31 points, or 0.1%, and the
Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%.
Dollar General helped lead the market and rallied 14% after reporting a
stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. More
customers shopped at its stores, and it also squeezed more profit out of
each $1 in sales that it made.
Hormel rose 3.8% after likewise reporting a better profit than expected,
thanks in part to strength for its Planters nuts and Jennie-O turkey
offerings. It also gave a forecasted range for profit in the upcoming
year whose midpoint was above analysts’ forecasts.
Salesforce, meanwhile, climbed 3.7% after swinging between gains and
losses earlier in the morning. It delivered a better profit for the
latest quarter than analysts expected, though its revenue fell just
short.
CEO Marc Benioff extolled how Salesforce is “uniquely positioned for
this new era” of artificial-intelligence technology, even if worries
continue that all the world’s spending on AI may not end up worth it.
Besides such worries about potential overinvestment in AI, concerns
about what the Federal Reserve will do with interest rates had sent U.S.
stocks on sharp swings since it set its all-time high in late October.
After some back and forth, the general expectation on Wall Street is now
that the Fed will indeed cut its main interest rate next week in hopes
of shoring up the slowing job market. If it does, that would be the
third such cut this year.
Investors love lower interest rates because they boost prices for
investments and can juice the economy. The downside is that they can
worsen inflation, which is stubbornly remaining above the Fed’s 2%
target.
But Treasury yields ticked higher Thursday following another rise for
Japanese government bonds. Expectations for a coming Fed cut to rates
also took a very slight hit after reports suggested the U.S. job market
may be a bit better than expected.
One report said fewer U.S. workers filed for unemployment last week. The
number was the lowest in more than three years.
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Traders Michael Urkonis, left, and Fred Demarco work on the floor of
the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP
Photo/Richard Drew)
 A separate report said that the
number of layoffs announced last month fell by more than half from
October’s surge. It still was above year-ago levels, though,
according to outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger,
Gray & Christmas.
While better-than-expected data on layoffs is of course good news
for U.S. workers, it could also indicate the job market doesn’t need
as much help from lower interest rates.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.10% from 4.06% late
Wednesday. While the move was relatively modest, increases in yields
can discourage some buyers from buying stocks and other investments
instead of bonds.
Among the stocks falling on Wall Street was Kroger, which dropped
4.6%. The grocer reported weaker revenue for the latest quarter than
analysts expected, though its profit beat forecasts. It also lowered
the top end of its forecasted range for an important measure of
revenue this year, while raising the bottom end by less.
Snowflake sank 11.4% despite topping analysts’ expectations for
profit and revenue in the latest quarter. Analysts at UBS said the
company’s stock may be feeling a letdown after excitement grew so
much after it blew past expectations in the quarter just before.
Growth in product revenue also decelerated a bit in the latest
quarter.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 7.40 points to 6,857.12. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average dipped 31.96 to 47,850.94, and the Nasdaq
composite gained 51.04 to 23,505.14.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose modestly in Europe following a
mixed finish in Asia.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.3%, while South Korea’s Kospi
slipped 0.2%.
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AP Writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed.
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