NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks were modestly higher in midday trading on Friday, as declines in health care stocks were offset by gains in technology, consumer and industrial company stocks.
The gains came a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 27,000 points for the first time.
Investors remain focused on the Federal Reserve. The Fed is expected to cut its benchmark interest rate later this month for the first time in more than a decade to help counter slowing growth.
The Dow rose 147 points, or 0.5%, to 27,235 as of 12:10 p.m. ET. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%.
Health care stocks took some of the heaviest losses. Eli Lilly, AbbVie, Merck and Pfizer all fell 1.5% or more. Pharmaceutical companies also fell on Thursday after the White House withdrew a plan to overhaul the rebates that drugmakers pay insurers and distributors. Investors now expect drugmakers may come under renewed pressure to lower prices.
Industrial companies were doing well. DuPont, Emerson Electric and Illinois Tool Works rose 2% or more. There was positive economic data out of Europe on Friday. Industrial production rose by 0.9% in May, much more than the 0.2% gain that economists had been expecting.
Ford rose 2.3% after announcing that it would team up with Volkswagen to share costs on self-driving and electric vehicles.
Shares of Illumina, a genetics toolmaking company, plunged 15% after the company announced it was lower its full-year forecast on weaker-than-expected revenue.
Stocks have been trending higher for much of the week as investors have grown more confident that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates for the first time in a decade as soon as the end of this month.
Bond yields have been moving higher for several days, a sign that investors have become more confident that the U.S. economy will continue to produce growth, at least for the next several months. On Wednesday, Fed chairman Jerome Powell told Congress that many Fed officials believe a weakening global economy and rising trade tensions have strengthened the case for a rate cut.
The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note was 2.12% compared to the multi-year low of 1.95% the bond hit only 10 days ago.
“In our view, the Fed will cut (rates by a quarter of percentage point) since market expectations are near 90%,” Tom Di Galoma, with Seaport Global, wrote in a note to clients.
Investors are also preparing for the start of second-quarter earnings season. The big banks will start reporting their results on Monday, starting with Citigroup. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs will report their results on Tuesday.
Benchmark crude oil fell 23 cents to $60.20 per barrel in New York. Brent crude oil, the international standard, lost 49 cents to $66.52 per barrel.
By AP reporter Ken Sweet
