Stock market today: Wall Street drifts to more records after Chinese stocks soar

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted to more records Tuesday after Chinese stocks soared following a slew of moves by the Chinese central bank to prop up the world’s second-largest economy.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to set an all-time high for the 41st time this year. The movements were tentative, though, and the index wavered up and down following a surprisingly weak report released in the morning on confidence among U.S. consumers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 83 points, or 0.2%, to its own record set the day before, while the Nasdaq composite gained 0.6%.

Financial markets have been mostly ebullient after the Federal Reserve made a drastic turn last week in how it sets interest rates. It’s now lowering rates to make things easier for the U.S. economy after keeping them high for years in hopes of extinguishing high inflation.