The U.S. stock market stayed near record highs on a calm day of trading. The S&P 500 inched up by 0.1% while the Dow Jones dipped 0.1% and the Nasdaq rose 0.2%. Dollar General and Hormel saw stock gains after reporting stronger profits than expected.

Salesforce climbed 3.7% after beating profit expectations for the latest quarter. CEO Marc Benioff praised the company’s position in the AI sector. Concerns about overinvestment in AI and Federal Reserve interest rate decisions contributed to recent market volatility.

Expectations are now for the Fed to cut interest rates for the third time this year. Investors favor lower rates for boosting investments and the economy, but it could worsen inflation. Treasury yields rose slightly following reports of a stronger U.S. job market.

Fewer U.S. workers filed for unemployment last week, the lowest in over three years. Layoff announcements fell by more than half from October but remained above last year’s levels. The job market may not need as much help from lower rates due to positive data on layoffs.

The S&P 500 rose to 6,857.12, the Dow Jones dipped to 47,850.94, and the Nasdaq gained to 23,505.14. Stock markets in Europe rose modestly, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumping 2.3% and South Korea’s Kospi slipping 0.2%. Snowflake stock fell despite beating profit and revenue expectations.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: Wall Street inches closer to its all-time high