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Financial Markets                      02/19 09:49

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stock indexes are edging lower on Wall Street 
Wednesday.

   The S&P 500 was down 0.1%, a day after setting an all-time high. The Dow 
Jones Industrial Average was down 122 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern 
time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower.

   Celanese helped drag the market lower and tumbled 20% even though the 
chemical company reported profit for the end of 2024 that topped analysts' 
expectations. CEO Scott Richardson warned that it saw "demand deterioration 
that gave no sign of easing" during the last three months of the year, and the 
company expects weakness to continue for such core markets as automotive, 
construction and paints.

   The stock of zero-emissions vehicle maker Nikola plunged 38.2% after it 
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a move that often wipes out the 
holdings of stock investors. The company said it will try to sell off its 
assets and wind down its business.

   The loss for Nikola could be a gain for rivals selling their own low- or 
zero-emission vehicles. Elon Musk's Tesla rose 2.5% and was one of the 
strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500.

   Toll Brothers, meanwhile, fell 5.6% after the homebuilder reported a weaker 
profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Douglas Yearley Jr. 
said this spring selling season has seen healthy demand so far for homes at the 
higher end of the price spectrum, but "affordability constraints" are hurting 
sales at the lower end.

   A separate report on Wednesday morning said homebuilders as a group broke 
ground on fewer U.S. houses last month than economists expected.

   High mortgage rates are making it difficult for some potential homebuyers to 
afford a house, even though the Federal Reserve began cutting its main interest 
rate in September in order to make things easier for the economy.

   Mortgage rates have followed the trend of longer-term Treasury yields, which 
have remained relatively high in part because the U.S. economy has remained 
remarkably solid and because inflation hasn't eased as much as hoped. Tariffs 
threatened by President Donald Trump, along with other policies that could put 
upward pressure on inflation, have also caused some sharp swings for yields in 
the bond market.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury stayed relatively calm Wednesday and edged 
down to 4.54% from 4.55% late Tuesday. It was below 3.70% as recently as 
September and approaching 4.80% within the past few weeks.

   Both the bond and the stock markets have increasingly been taking Trump's 
tariffs in stride, after earlier showing much more trepidation. The hope on 
Wall Street is that Trump is using such threats merely as a tool to drive 
negotiations, and the ultimate effects won't be as bad as they initially 
appeared.

   Such a calm response, though, could make things worse if conditions don't go 
as Wall Street expects, or if it emboldens Trump to make even more forceful 
actions.

   Later on Wednesday, the Fed will release the minutes from its last policy 
meeting, when it left its benchmark interest rate alone in January after 
cutting it at its previous three meetings. The Fed has signaled it may make 
fewer cuts this year than earlier expected, in part because of worries that 
inflation will remain stubbornly above its 2% target.

   Cutting rates can boost the economy and juice prices for investments, but 
they can also give inflation more fuel.

   In stock markets abroad, London's FTSE 100 fell 0.5% after a report showed 
U.K. inflation accelerated to a 10-month high. That could put pressure on the 
Bank of England, which had been cutting interest rates to invigorate its tepid 
economy.

   Indexes fell more than 1% in other European markets, including in France and 
Germany, after finishing mixed across Asia. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.7%, 
while Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3%.

   ___

   AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Zen Soo contributed.

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