Dow Jones industrial average inches up to another record high in mixed trading

NEW YORK —  The Dow Jones industrial average inched up to another record high on a mixed day of trading for Wall Street.

The Dow eked out a gain of 9 points, or less than 0.1%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 and the Nasdaq composite both rose 0.2%.

Semiconductor company Nvidia, with a total market value topping $3 trillion, climbed 1.5% a day ahead of the release of its latest financial results on Wednesday. Wall Street’s mania around artificial intelligence has helped propel a 160% gain for the stock this year.

The parent company of the Paramount movie studio slid 7.15% after Edgar Bronfman Jr., the former head of Warner Music Group, abandoned his bid for the company, clearing the way for it to be acquired by the media company Skydance.

Treasury yields held steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.83% from 3.82% late Monday.

The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 103.3 in August from 101.9 in July. The results were better than economists expected and could help bolster sentiment that consumers remain resilient, despite pressure from inflation.

Consumer spending accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. economic activity. That has been a strong area of the economy, along with the job market.

Best Buy and Dollar General will report their latest results Thursday. That could give investors more insight into where, and how much, consumers are spending.

Most of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported better-than-expected profit so far this reporting season. Several companies rose Tuesday as traders cheered their latest quarterly snapshots.

Hain Celestial Group jumped 17.2% after the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter profit topped Wall Street’s estimates. Trip.com Group climbed 8.8% after its second-quarter earnings beat analysts’ forecasts and the company touted strong travel demand.

Traders also bid up shares in cruise line operators. Royal Caribbean rose 4.2%, Norwegian Cruise Line gained 4.3% and Carnival added 3.6%.

Investors are looking ahead to Friday, when the government releases its latest data on inflation with the PCE, or personal consumption expenditures index, for July. It’s the preferred measure of inflation for the Federal Reserve, which has signaled that long-awaited interest rate cuts are coming.

Inflation has been falling steadily over the last two years after the central bank raised its benchmark rate to its highest level in two decades. The economy has persevered through both inflation and higher borrowing rates, bringing the Fed closer to its goal of taming inflation without pushing the economy into a recession.

Traders expect the Fed to start cutting its main interest rate at its next meeting in September, with up to a 1% reduction by the end of the year.

Troise and Veiga write for the Associated Press.