Stocks rise and push the Dow to another record

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks mostly rose, leaving indexes at or near records. The S&P 500 inched up a fraction of a point Tuesday, leaving it just slightly below its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5% to another record. The Nasdaq composite edged down 0.2%.

The relatively quiet trading came as the floodgates open for companies reporting how much they made during the summer. General Motors, RTX and Coca-Cola climbed after topping forecasts. The pressure is on companies after the S&P 500 rallied 35% from a low in April. The price of gold dropped from its record.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stock indexes are flirting with records on Tuesday as the floodgates open for companies reporting how much profit they made during the summer.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% and is sitting just 0.2% below its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 277 points, or 0.6%, and had been on track to set its own record earlier in the day before paring its gain. The Nasdaq composite was edging down by 0.1%, with an hour remaining in trading.

General Motors rallied 15.1% after reporting stronger quarterly results than analysts expected, while also raising its forecasts for some full-year financial targets. CEO Mary Barra said it's moving quickly to reduce its losses in 2026 and beyond for its electric-vehicle business, as "it is now clear" that EV adoption will be lower than planned.

RTX, the aerospace and defense company, rose 8%, and Coca-Cola climbed 3.6% after they likewise reported profit for the latest quarter that topped Wall Street's profit expectations.

Warner Bros. Discovery leaped 10.9% after the company said it's now considering other options besides its previously announced split of Discovery Global off Warner Bros., which could be more profitable for shareholders. The company said it made the move after hearing from "multiple parties" interested in either the entire company or Warner Bros.

Keeping the market in check were drops for some Big Tech stocks, which lost momentum following their own rallies. A 2% drop for Google’s parent company, Alphabet, from its all-time high was among the heaviest weights on the S&P 500. So was Broadcom’s 2% fall.

Other big recent winners in financial markets also took a pause. The price of gold fell 5.7% from its latest record, dropping back to $4,109.10 per ounce. It's still up 56.4% for the year so far.

The pressure is on companies to show that their profits are growing following a torrid rally of 35% for the S&P 500 from a low in April. It's one way they can justify their high stock prices amid criticism that they're too expensive.

Corporate earnings reports also have gained importance because they provide details on the strength of the U.S. economy when the U.S. government's shutdown has delayed important economic updates. That's making the job of the Federal Reserve more difficult, as it tries to decide whether high inflation or the slowing job market is the bigger issue for the economy.

Despite the shutdown, the Commerce Department will release its consumer prices report on Friday, which could help guide the Fed's interest rate policy. It's the government's first data release since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.3% and crept closer to the 50,000 level as conservative lawmaker Sanae Takaichi became the country's prime minister. Investors expect her to push for lower interest rates and other policies that could help the market.

Indexes rose 1.4% in Shanghai and 0.7% in Hong Kong amid expectations that President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month during a regional summit. That's raised hopes for an easing of trade tensions between the world's biggest economies.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 3.96% from 4.00% late Monday.