Stock market today: Wall Street hangs near its records as Krispy Kreme and Trump Media soar

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are ticking higher Tuesday, near their record levels.

The S&P 500 was up 0.3% in early trading, coming off a listless performance where it edged a bit further from its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 29 points, or 0.1%, as of 9:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

Krispy Kreme was jumping, up 17.3%, after it announced a deal where McDonald’s restaurants will sell its doughnuts across the country. It will begin later this year and hope to be nationwide by the end of 2026.

Another food company, McCormick, was also helping to lead the market and climbed 9.1%. The seller of spices, hot sauces and seasonings reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also said its business looks strong, with sales growth for the year looking to come in at the high end of its projections.

Trump Media & Technology Group was another big mover, soaring 43%. It’s the first day of trading for the company under its new ticker, “DJT,” which are the initials of former President Donald Trump. The company took the place of a shell company that had been trading on the Nasdaq after it merged with the company.

Currency traders work near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Asian shares were mixed in muted trading Tuesday, as buying in some markets was soon erased by profit-taking. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Ahn Young-joon

The stock’s price has shot well beyond what several experts say is reasonable, driven by excitement about Trump’s latest run for the White House. Truth Social, the platform that’s the company’s main asset, is losing money and expects to continue to do so while competing against rivals with many more users.

The overall U.S. stock market is also facing criticism that it’s become too expensive, though not as much as Trump Media & Technology Group has received.

The S&P 500 has already jumped nearly 10% this year and is on track to close out its fifth straight winning month since it began roaring higher in late October. Excitement is high because the U.S. economy has remained remarkably resilient despite high interest rates meant to get inflation under control. Plus, the Federal Reserve looks set to begin lowering interest rates this year because inflation has cooled from its peak.

But critics say a broader range of companies will need to deliver strong profit growth to justify those big moves. Progress on bringing inflation down has also become bumpier recently, with reports this year coming in hotter than expected.

Still, the broad expectation among traders is for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting its main interest rate in June. Some even see a slight possibility of it starting at its meeting next week.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were holding relatively steady after a report showed that orders for machinery, computers and other long-lasting manufactured goods rose in February following two months of drops.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury ticked up to 4.26% from 4.25% late Monday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, slipped to 4.61% from 4.63.%

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mostly modestly higher across Europe and Asai.

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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

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