Financial Markets                      04/28 15:40

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks drifted to a mixed finish on Monday, ahead of 
potential flashpoints this week that could bring more sharp swings for 
financial markets.

   The S&P 500 inched up by 0.1% to extend its winning streak to a fifth day. 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 114 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq 
composite slipped 0.1%.

   The relative lull in trading offered a respite from the sharp, historic 
swings that have rocked markets for weeks, as hopes rose and fell that 
President Donald Trump may back down on his trade war. Many investors believe 
Trump's tariffs could cause a recession if left unaltered. Coming into Monday, 
the S&P 500 had roughly halved its drop that had taken it nearly 20% below its 
record set earlier this year.

   Mixed trading for some influential tech stocks ahead of their earnings 
reports this week pulled the S&P 500 back and forth between modest gains and 
losses for much of Monday.

   Amazon fell 0.7%, Microsoft dipped 0.2%, Meta Platforms added 0.4% and Apple 
rose 0.4%. All are on the schedule to report their latest result this week, and 
they're some of Wall Street's most influential companies because they've grown 
to become some of the biggest in terms of size, by far. That gives their 
movements extra weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes.

   Outside of Big Tech, executives from Caterpillar, Exxon Mobil and McDonald's 
may also offer clues this week about how they're seeing economic conditions 
play out. Several companies across industries have already slashed their 
estimates for upcoming profit or pulled their forecasts entirely because of 
uncertainty about what will happen with Trump's tariffs.

   "We heard more plans to mitigate tariff impacts than in prior months and 
than during 2018" from U.S. companies, including pre-ordering, shifting 
production and increasing prices for their own products, according to Bank of 
America strategist Savita Subramanian. But she also said in a report that she's 
seeing "some indications of a pause: no hiring/no firing, no new projects/no 
cancellations etc."

   A fear is that Trump's on-again-off-again tariffs may be pushing households 
and businesses to alter their spending and freeze plans for long-term 
investment because of how quickly conditions can change, seemingly by the hour.

   All told, the S&P 500 rose 3.54 points to 5,528.75. The Dow Jones Industrial 
Average added 114.09 to 40,227.59, and the Nasdaq composite edged down by 16.81 
to 17,366.13.

   So far, economic reports have mostly seemed to show the U.S. economy is 
still growing, though at a weaker pace. On Wednesday, economists expect a 
report to say U.S. economic growth slowed to a 0.8% annual rate in the first 
three months of this year, down from a 2.4% pace at the end of last year.

   But most reports Wall Street has received so far have focused on data from 
before Trump's "Liberation Day" on April 2, when he announced tariffs that 
could affect imports from countries worldwide. That could raise the stakes for 
upcoming reports on the U.S. job market, including Friday's, which will show 
how many workers employers hired during all of April.

   Economists expect it to show a slowdown in hiring down to 125,000 from 
228,000 in March.

   The most jarring economic data recently have come from surveys showing U.S. 
consumers are getting much more pessimistic about the economy's future because 
of tariffs. The Conference Board's latest reading on consumer confidence will 
arrive on Tuesday.

   In the bond market, Treasury yields fell some more. They've largely been 
sinking since an unsettling, unusual spurt higher in yields earlier this month 
rattled both Wall Street and the U.S. government. That rise had suggested 
investors worldwide may have been losing faith in the U.S. bond market's 
reputation as a safe place to park cash.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.21% from 4.29% late Friday. It's 
been pulling back recently as weaker-than-expected reports on the economy 
bolster expectations among investors that the Federal Reserve will deliver cuts 
to interest rates later this year. Such cuts could juice the economy by making 
it easier for households and companies to borrow and spend.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid modest moves across much of 
Europe and Asia. The CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.5%, but stocks slipped 0.2% in 
Shanghai.

   ___

   AP Writers Jiang Junzhe and Matt Ott contributed.

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