Wall Street coasts to the finish of its latest record-setting week
[September 20, 2025] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street tacked on some more gains Friday as it
glided to the finish of its latest record-setting week.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to close out its sixth winning week in the last
seven. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 172 points, or 0.4%, and
the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.7%.
All three hit all-time highs for a second straight day. They’ve been
rallying on expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue to cut
interest rates in order to give the economy a boost after the central
bank lowered them for the first time this year on Wednesday.
FedEx helped lift the market after delivering stronger profit and
revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It rose 2.3%,
thanks in part to strength for its domestic package business.
Newmont rallied 4.3% after the gold miner sold its investment in
Canada’s Orla Mining for $439 million. It added to a stellar run, and
Newmont’s stock has more than doubled so far this year as the price of
gold has shot to records.
Gold has benefited from expectations for lower interest rates, along
with worries about high inflation and the potential that mountains of
debt for the U.S. and other governments could make their currencies
worth less.
On the losing end of Wall Street was Lennar, which dropped 4.2% after
the homebuilder reported weaker revenue for its latest quarter than
analysts expected.
Executive Chairman Stuart Miller pointed to “the continued pressures of
today’s housing market” and said Lennar had to offer additional
incentives to entice customers to buy homes, which dragged down the
average sales price.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 32.40 points to 6,664.36. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average added 172.85 to 46,315.27, and the Nasdaq composite
climbed 160.75 to 22,631.48.

If the Fed does keep cutting interest rates, that could give the
struggling housing market a boost, and mortgage rates have already come
down in expectation of a rate-cutting campaign.
Lower rates could likewise tamp down widespread criticism that the U.S.
stock market has become too expensive after prices rose so quickly. But
expectations have grown so strong for coming cuts to rates that the
stock market may be set for a sharp drop if the Fed does not cut as much
as traders expect.
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A sign outside the New York Stock Exchange marks the intersection of
Wall and Broad Streets, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP
Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
 Fed officials did indicate earlier
this week that they’re likely to deliver more cuts to rates this
year and next. They’re hoping to give support to the job market,
which has slowed and made it more difficult for U.S. workers to find
new positions.
But Fed Chair Jerome Powell also warned Wednesday that the central
bank is in a precarious position and may have to change course
quickly. That’s because the economy is in an unusual situation where
inflation is remaining stubbornly high at the same time that the job
market is slowing. And President Donald Trump’s tariffs are
threatening to push inflation higher, at least temporarily.
The Fed is in charge of fixing both high inflation and a weak job
market, but it has only one tool to do so. And helping one by moving
interest rates often hurts the other in the short term.
Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo
Investment Institute, warned that the stock market could become
shakier following its recent glide to records as “the economy slows,
tariff impacts arrive piecemeal and political uncertainties
continue.”
In stock markets abroad, indexes mostly ticked lower in Europe and
Asia.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% after the Bank of Japan said it will
sell some of its massive trove of Japanese stock funds. It also held
interest rates steady.
Chinese indexes finished mixed ahead of a phone call between Trump
and China’s President Xi Jinping. After the call ended, the U.S.
president called it productive. The leaders of the world’s two
largest economies agreed to meet at a regional summit taking place
in South Korea at the end of October.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The
yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.12% from 4.11% late
Thursday.
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AP Writers Matt Ott and Teresa Cerojano contributed.
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