NEW YORK — Strong gains for Alphabet and Microsoft have the U.S. stock market on track for its first winning week in the last four. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% early Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, and the Nasdaq composite was up 1.2%. Google’s parent company jumped more than 10% after breezing past analysts’ expectations for profit last quarter. Stocks have been under pressure this month as hopes wither for multiple cuts to interest rates this year.
The Bank of Japan ended a policy meeting with no major changes, keeping its benchmark interest rate in a range of 0 to 0.1%. In March, it raised the key rate from minus 0.1%, citing signs that inflation had reached the central bank’s target of about 2%. Although a weak yen is a boon for giant Japanese exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp., whose overseas earnings are boosted when converted into yen, some Japanese officials, including Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, have raised concerns that an overly weak currency is not good for the Japanese economy in the long run.“The yen’s downward trajectory remains unabated.
A report this week said the growth of the U.S. economy slowed to a 1.6% annual rate during the first three months of this year from 3.4% at the end of 2023. Worries are lingering whether the economy can avoid a deep recession and support strong profits for companies, even if high inflation takes a while to get fully under control.
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