The great inflation spike of the past three years is nearly spent — and economists credit American consumers for helping slay it.

Some of America's largest companies, from Amazon to Disney to Yum Brands, say their customers are increasingly seeking cheaper alternative products and services, searching for bargains or just avoiding items they deem too expensive. Consumers aren't cutting back enough to cause an economic downturn. Rather, economists say, they appear to be returning to pre-pandemic norms, when most companies felt they couldn't raise prices very much without losing business.

U.S. stocks are holding relatively steady at the tail end of a wild, whipsaw week for Wall Street. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% in early trading Friday, coming off its best day since 2022. After yo-yoing through several sharp swings, it's on track to close a fourth straight losing week. That would be its longest such streak in almost a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 93 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher. The mixed trading came after more big companies reported better profit for the spring than analysts. Expedia Group jumped 8.7%.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.

The Walt Disney Co. returned to a profitable third quarter as its combined streaming business started making money for the first time and the movie Inside Out 2 did well in theaters.

For the period ended June 29, Disney earned $2.62 billion, or $1.43 per share. A year earlier it lost $460 million, or 25 cents per share.

Dubai International Airport saw a record 44.9 million travelers pass through its terminals in the first half of this year, putting the world's busiest airport for international travel back on track to beat its all-time record, as aviation booms after the coronavirus pandemic.

The results released on Wednesday follow a record-breaking annual profit for the long-haul carrier Emirates that calls the airport — known as DXB — its home. The results come as Dubai plans to move operations to a nearly $35 billion new airfield in the next decade.

China's exports rose 7% in July from a year earlier, below economists' forecasts for growth closer to 10% as trade tensions and weakening growth in the United States and other major markets weighed on demand.

Chinese leaders have ramped up investment in manufacturing to rev up an economy that stalled during the pandemic and is still growing more slowly than hoped. But moves to tame inflation by raising interest rates have bit into consumer demand in affluent Western countries.

U.S. stocks are bouncing back, and calm is returning to Wall Street after Japan's market soared earlier Tuesday to claw back much of the losses from its worst day since 1987.

The S&P 500 was rallying by 1.6% in midday trading and on track to break a brutal three-day losing streak. It had tumbled a bit more than 6% after several weaker-than-expected reports raised worries the Federal Reserve had pressed the brakes too hard for too long on the U.S. economy through high interest rates in order to beat inflation.

The Egyptian pound is sliding against foreign currencies, inching nearer to 50 per U.S. dollar after a recent hike in subway fares and fuel prices.

The currency reached 49.16 to the U.S. dollar Tuesday, the Central Bank of Egypt posted on its website.

Saudi oil giant Aramco reported half-year profits Tuesday of $56.3 billion, down from the year before due to weakening volumes sold amid worries about the global economy.

Aramco, formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said its overall revenue for the half-year was $220.7 billion, up from $218.6 billion the year before. Profits in 2023 were $61.9 billion, nearly $5 billion higher.

The hospitality workers' union UNITE HERE has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, a rejoinder to Republican Donald Trump's effort to woo restaurant and hotel workers by promising to make their tips tax-free.

Gwen Mills, the union's president, said Trump was merely "making a play" for votes while Harris has credibility from having supported unions. She discussed the move with The Associated Press before the union's announcement of an endorsement.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has ordered the seizure of 100 million shekels ($26 million) of tax funds intended for the Palestinian Authority, saying it would be used to pay for Israeli victims of terrorism.