By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is hanging near its records on Thursday, but the calm surface of the U.S. stock market is hiding some roiling moves underneath. Alphabet is rising, and Tesla is tumbling following a jumble of profit reports from big U.S. companies.

The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in morning trading after setting an all-time high the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 204 points, or 0.5%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.

Alphabet climbed 1.6% after the company behind Google and YouTube delivered a fatter profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It’s leaning more into artificial-intelligence technology and said it’s increasing its budget to spend on AI chips and other investments this year by $10 billion to $85 billion.

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That helped push up other stocks in the AI industry, including a 0.8% rise for Nvidia. The chip company was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500 because it’s the largest on Wall Street in terms of value.

But a 7.9% drop for Tesla kept the market in check. Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle company reported results for the spring that were roughly in line with or above analysts’ expectations, and Musk is trying to highlight Tesla’s moves into AI and robotaxis.

The focus, though, remains on how Musk’s foray into politics is turning off potential customers, and he said several rough quarters may be ahead as “we’re in this weird transition period where we’ll lose a lot of incentives in the U.S.”

Stocks have broadly been rallying for weeks on hopes that President Donald Trump will reach trade deals with other countries that will lower his stiff proposed tariffs, along with the risk that they could cause a recession and drive up inflation. The record-setting gains have been so strong that criticism is rising about how expensive stock prices have become. That in turn puts pressure on companies to deliver solid growth in profits in order to justify their gains.

Besides Tesla, Chipotle Mexican Grill also helped weigh on the market. The burrito chain delivered a profit for the spring that topped analysts’ expectations, but its growth in revenue came up short. Its stock fell 12%.

IBM dropped 10.4% even though it likewise reported a stronger profit than expected. Analysts pointed to slowing growth in its software business, among other things underneath the surface.

American Airlines lost 7.9% despite reporting a stronger profit than expected. The company said it expects to report a loss for the summer quarter. It also gave a forecast for full-year results that had a wide range: between a loss of 20 cents per share and a profit of 80 cents per share, depending on how the economy performs.

Reactions in the stock market have generally been stronger than usual when companies beat or miss their profit targets by a wide margin, according to Julian Emanuel at Evercore.

Other extreme moves have also been roaring underneath the market’s surface, including huge swings for “meme stocks.” Those are stocks where traders are looking to jump in amid online cheerleading and ride it higher before getting left holding the bag when momentum stops. Opendoor Technologies is heading for a gain of 10.9% following a manic stretch where it swung by at least 10%, up or down, in 10 straight days.

Such swings, though, haven’t been showing up in overall market indexes, which have been gliding recently. The S&P 500 hasn’t had a day where it swung by at least 1% in a month.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady following the latest signals that the U.S. economy seems to be holding up OK despite all the pressures on it from tariffs and elsewhere.

One report said that fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, a potential signal of easing layoffs. A separate report from S&P Global suggested growth in U.S. business activity accelerated in July, and the preliminary results easily topped economists’ expectations.

That helped nearly cement expectations on Wall Street that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady at its next meeting next week, even though Trump has been agitating angrily for cuts. The European Central Bank, which had earlier been cutting its rates, also held steady on Thursday as it waits to see how Trump’s tariffs affect the economy.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note briefly approached 4.44% in the morning before pulling back to 4.40%, where it was late Wednesday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Asia and Europe. Tokyo’s jump of 1.6% and London’s rise of 1% were two of the bigger gains.

AP Writer Teresa Cerojano contributed.

MINNETONKA, Minn. (AP) — Shares of UnitedHealth Group dove early Thursday after the health care giant said it was under a Department of Justice investigation.

The company said it has started complying with both criminal and civil requests from federal investigators and it was working cooperatively with them.

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“(UnitedHealth) has a long record of responsible conduct and effective compliance,” the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal said federal officials had launched a civil fraud investigation into how the company records diagnoses that lead to extra payments for its Medicare Advantage, or MA, plans. Those are privately run versions of the government’s Medicare coverage program mostly for people ages 65 and over.

The company said Thursday that it reached out to the justice department “after reviewing media reports about investigations into certain aspects of the company’s participation in the Medicare program.”

Company shares were down nearly 4%, or $11.51, to $281.12 before markets opened Thursday.

By MATT OTT, Associated Press Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for jobless aid fell for the sixth straight week, hitting the lowest level since mid-April.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims for the week ending July 19 fell by 4,000 to 217,000. That’s fewer than the 227,000 new applications analysts were expecting.

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Applications for unemployment aid are viewed as representative of layoffs.

Earlier in July, the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added a surprising 147,000 jobs in June, adding to evidence that the American labor market continues to show resilience despite uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s economic policies. The job gains were much more than expected and the unemployment rate ticked down 4.1% from 4.2% in May.

Though the job market is broadly healthy by historical standards, some weakness has surfaced as employers contend with fallout from Trump’s policies, especially his aggressive tariffs, which raise prices for businesses and consumers. Most economists believe the import duties make the economy less efficient by reducing competition. They also invite retaliatory tariffs from other countries, hurting U.S. exporters and potentially driving businesses to freeze hiring or cut staff.

The deadline on most of Trump’s stiff proposed taxes on imports were extended again until Aug. 1. Unless Trump reaches deals with countries to lower the tariffs, economists fear they could act as a drag on the economy and trigger another bout of inflation.

Companies that have announced job cuts this year include Procter & Gamble, Workday, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Google and Facebook parent company Meta.

The Labor Department’s report Thursday showed that the four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, declined by 5,000 to 224,500.

The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits for the week of July 12 remained stable, rising by just 4,000 to 1.96 million.

By CHRIS MEGERIAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to step foot in the Federal Reserve on Thursday as his allies scrutinize its expensive building renovations, a highly personal and confrontational escalation of his campaign to pressure the central bank to slash interest rates.

Trump administration officials have used concerns about the building overhaul to cast doubt on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s decision making. They were scheduled to inspect the site on Thursday, and the White House announced late Wednesday that the Republican president would also be visiting.

FILE – The sculpture of an eagle looks out from behind protective construction wrapping on the facade as the Federal Reserve Board Building undergoes both interior and exterior renovations, in Washington, Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The visit reflects Trump’s disregard for the traditional independence of the Fed, which plays a foundational role in the American economy by setting monetary policy that is supposed to be free of political influence.

While previous presidents have criticized the Fed’s decisions, Trump’s sustained campaign is an unusual and, his critics say, dangerous departure from the norm. He has called on Powell to resign, insulted him repeatedly and suggested that he could be fired.

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Ousting Powell could be illegal, and it would send shockwaves through global markets, potentially having the opposite effect that Trump wants as he pushes for lowering borrowing costs.

Trump has criticized Powell for months because the chair has kept the short-term interest rate the Fed controls at 4.3% this year, after cutting it three times last year. Powell says the Fed wants to see how the economy responds to Trump’s sweeping tariffs on imports, which Powell says could push up inflation.

Powell’s caution has infuriated Trump, who has demanded the Fed cut borrowing costs to spur the economy and reduce the interest rates the federal government pays on its debt.

The Fed has been renovating its Washington headquarters and a neighboring building. With some of the construction occurring underground and as building materials have soared in price after inflation spiked in 2021 and 2022, the estimated cost has ballooned from $1.9 billion to about $2.5 billion.

When asked last week if the costly rebuilding could be grounds to fire Powell, Trump said, “I think it sort of is.”

“When you spend $2.5 billion on, really, a renovation,” Trump said, “I think it’s really disgraceful.”