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Stocks are closing higher Thursday, as gains by banks and technology companies led a broad rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new high. Healthcare was hurt by news late Wednesday that the White House supports waiving intellectual property rights for coronavirus vaccines to help immunize poorer countries faster. Shares of drugmaker Moderna lost 1.4% as investors shrugged off its first-ever quarterly profit. The S&P 500 technology sector broke a seven-day losing streak. Investors focused on Friday’s jobs report for April. Economists expect that employers hired 975,000 workers last month, roughly the same number as in March.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story appears below:

Banks and household goods makers helped lift stocks on Wall Street mostly higher in afternoon trading Thursday, though the gains were muted by a pullback in health care and other sectors.

The S&P 500 was up 0.1% as of 2:38 p.m. Eastern after recovering from an early slide. The benchmark index is on track for a small weekly loss following a choppy week of trading. Treasury yields were mostly lower. Oil prices fell.

Investors are still digesting the latest corporate earnings and turning their attention to job growth as the the U.S. pushes on with its economic recovery. Job growth has been one of the keys to a sustained economic rebound, but it has been lagging behind other areas of the economy such as retail sales and consumer confidence.

“Continued job gains through the year are going to be important to continue to move things ahead,” said James Ragan, director of wealth management research at D.A. Davidson.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 113 points, or 0.3%, to 34,341, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.6%. Smaller company stocks also lost ground, knocking the Russell 2000 index 1.1% lower.

Healthcare stocks fell broadly after news late Wednesday that the White House supports waiving intellectual property rights for coronavirus vaccines to help immunize poorer countries faster. That slide was countered by gains in household goods makers, banks and communication companies.

Shares of drugmaker Moderna lost 1.9% after the company reported its first-ever quarterly profit, helped by the company’s coronavirus vaccine. The drop was largely tied to the news from the White House, as shares of other drug companies fell. Pfizer slid 1.5% and Merck slipped 0.3%.

Shares of Johnson & Johnson were relatively unchanged by the news, partly because J&J has other businesses like Band-Aids, the pain reliever Tylenol and its baby products franchise. The stock inched up 0.1%

Investors remain focused on corporate earnings, with results from Wall Street Journal publisher News Corp after the closing bell, and results from Cigna, Equifax and insurance giant AIG on Friday. Of the S&P 500 companies reporting so far, 84% topped analysts’ expectations, according to FactSet.

Investors’ attention is turning to Friday’s jobs report for April. Economists expect the data to show employers hired 975,000 workers last month as the economy accelerated out of the pandemic and vaccines rolled out nationwide. The unemployment rate is expected to drop to 5.8% from 6%.

There have already been signs that the labor market is improving. The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits last week fell to a pandemic low of 498,000. The payroll processing company ADP said Wednesday that private employers hired 742,000 workers last month.

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LONDON (AP) — Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven wealthy industrialized nations on Wednesday accused China of human rights abuses and economic mischief, but offered little concrete action to deal with an increasingly forceful Beijing.

The top G-7 diplomats meeting in London said they were “deeply concerned” by China’s treatment of the Uyghur Muslim population and other minorities, which includes mass internment in “re-education” camps, forced labor and forced sterilization.

But the U.K., the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan committed only to tackling forced labor “through our own available domestic means,” which could range from public awareness campaigns to laws for businesses, rather than through collective action.

While the Biden administration in the U.S. is keen for a strong stand against China’s rising economic and political assertiveness, some European G-7 members are more cautious, and the G-7 joint statement stressed the need for a working relationship with Beijing.

The G-7 ministers criticized China for “arbitrary, coercive economic policies and practices” and urged it to stick to international trade rules and “respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

At their first face-to-face meeting for two years, the top diplomats sought unity to deal with increasing challenges from China and Russia, smoldering conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and Ethiopia and the heavy toll the pandemic is taking on the world’s poorest countries.

The G-7 ministers called for “co-ordinated action and global solidarity” to help the world recover from the pandemic, and backed “affordable and equitable global access” to coronavirus vaccines and treatments. But wealthy countries have been reluctant so far to give up precious vaccine stocks until they have inoculated their own populations.

The group also condemned Russia’s military build-up on Ukraine’s eastern border and in Crimea and its “malign activities aimed at undermining other countries’ democratic systems.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was flying to Kviv after the G-7 meeting to demonstrate strong U.S. backing for the country’s response to Russian aggression.

The U.K. pushed to hold the meeting in person to give the rich countries’ club a jolt of energy after a period marked by the health crisis of the pandemic and rising nationalism around the world. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is also seeking to project a dynamic “Global Britain” image in the wake of the country’s departure from the European Union.

Delegates at Lancaster House, a grand London mansion, observed social distancing, sat behind transparent screens in meetings and were tested daily for the virus. Even so, India’s foreign minister was forced to go into self-isolation after members of his country’s delegation tested positive for COVID-19.

Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar tweeted that he was attending “in the virtual mode” as a ”measure of abundant caution” after being told he might have been exposed to the virus.

Organizers insisted there was little risk to the rest of the delegates.

India is not a G-7 member but was invited along with fellow democracies South Korea, Australia and South Africa as a guest.

India is experiencing a vast outbreak of COVID-19, with 382,315 new confirmed cases and 3,780 reported deaths in the last 24 hours, in what is widely believed to be an undercount.

The guest nations’ delegations didn’t attend the conference on Tuesday, though Jaishankar has held meetings in London with officials including British Home Secretary Priti Patel and the American secretary of state.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that “we have no reason to believe any of our delegation is at risk.”

The U.K. is due to host the group’s leaders at a summit in Cornwall, southwest England, in June.

Johnson, who attended the gathering briefly on Wednesday defended the decision to hold the foreign ministers’ meeting in person despite the virus.

“I think it’s very important to try to continue as much business as you can as a government,” the prime minister said.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Many Broadway productions are scrambling to resume ticket sales in the coming days to welcome theater-goers this fall after city and state leaders have green-lit a reopening of the Great White Way at full capacity by mid-September.

“We remain cautiously optimistic about Broadway’s ability to resume performances this fall and are happy that fans can start buying tickets again,” Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League, said in a statement Wednesday.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Broadway theaters can reopen Sept. 14 and will be allowed to decide their own entry requirements, like whether people must prove they’ve been vaccinated to attend a show. Selling tickets will allow theaters to gauge interest before stages open, said Robert Mujica, Cuomo’s budget director.

“Phantom of the Opera,” Broadway’s longest-running show, announced Wednesday it would resume performances on Oct. 22, with tickets going on sale Friday. More shows are expected to circle return dates in the coming weeks.

Actors’ Equity Association, the national labor union representing more than 51,000 actors and stage managers in live theater, said the news meant the theater community is “one step closer to the safe reopening” of Broadway.

“We look forward to continuing our conversations with the Broadway League about a safe reopening and know that soon the time will come when members can go back to doing what they do best, creating world-class theater,” said Mary McColl, executive director of Actors’ Equity.

The Broadway that reopens will look different. In May, the big budget Disney musical “Frozen” decided not to reopen when Broadway theaters restart, marking the first time an established show had been felled by the coronavirus pandemic. Producers of “Mean Girls” also decided not to restart.

But there will be new shows, including Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s “Pass Over” that is slated to reopen the August Wilson Theatre, the same venue “Mean Girls” has vacated. And a Shubert theater has been promised for playwright Keenan Scott II’s play “Thoughts of a Colored Man.”

The lifting of all capacity restrictions has long been considered by the industry as crucial to any reopening plan since Broadway economics demand full venue capacity. Some off-Broadway shows have already reopened with limited capacity.

All city theaters abruptly closed on March 12, 2020, knocking out all shows, including 16 that were still scheduled to open.

Some scheduled spring 2020 shows — like a musical about Michael Jackson and a revival of Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite” starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker — pushed their productions to 2021. But others abandoned their plans, including “Hangmen” and a revival of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

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Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Some shared agonizing stories of frustration and loss. Others prayed and performed ceremonies. All called for action.

Across the U.S. on Wednesday, family members, advocates and government leaders commemorated a day of awareness for the crises of violence against Indigenous women and children. They met at virtual events, vigils and rallies at state capitols and raised their voices on social media.

In Washington, a gathering hosted by U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and other federal officials started with a prayer asking for guidance and grace for the Indigenous families who have lost relatives and those who have been victims of violence.

Before and after a moment of silence, officials from various agencies vowed to continue working with tribes to address the problem.

As part of the ceremony, a red memorial shawl with the names of missing and slain Indigenous women was draped across a long table to remember the lives behind what Haaland called alarming and unacceptable statistics. More names were added to the shawl Wednesday.

Haaland, the first Native American U.S. Cabinet secretary and a former Democratic U.S. representative from New Mexico, recalled hearing families testify about searching for loved ones on their own and bringing a red ribbon skirt to a congressional hearing that represented missing and slain Native Americans.

She believes the nation has reached an inflection point, and said it’s time to solve the crisis.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe in their communities, but the missing and murdered Indigenous peoples crisis is one that Native communities have faced since the dawn of colonization,” Haaland said as she joined the event virtually.

In Montana, a few dozen members of the state’s eight federally recognized tribes gathered in front of the Capitol in Helena, including many relatives of missing and slain Indigenous women. Some wore red or had handprints painted over their mouths, symbolizing the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s movement.

Marvin Weatherwax, a Democratic state representative and member of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council, said legislative initiatives to address the issue have given tribal citizens hope. The Blackfeet tribe has two ongoing searches for missing members.

The event ended with a ceremony called the “Wiping Away of Tears,” where victims’ family members were given colorful shawls. The gifts marked the coming out of mourning, said Jean Bearcrane, a citizen of the Crow tribe and executive director of Montana Native Women’s Coalition.

“Among the tribes, when people are grieving, they wear black,” she said.

The sisters, mothers and aunts of missing women shed tears as they received their shawls.

Indigenous women have been victimized at astonishing rates, with federal figures showing that they — along with non-Hispanic Black women — have experienced the highest homicide rates.

Yet a 2018 Associated Press investigation found nobody knows the precise number of cases of missing and murdered Native Americans nationwide because many go unreported, others aren’t well documented, and no government database specifically tracks them.

In New Mexico, members of the state’s task force on Wednesday shared some of the findings of their work over the past year, which included combing through public records and requesting data from nearly two dozen law enforcement agencies to better understand the scope of the problem. Only five agencies responded.

Even with such limited data, they pointed to an estimated 660 cases involving missing Indigenous people between 2014 and 2019 in the state’s largest urban center, putting Albuquerque among U.S. cities with the highest number of cases.

New Mexico’s task force will be expanded and its work extended into 2022, with the goal of recommending policy changes and legislation.

Other states also have established task forces or commissions to focus on the problem, with Hawaii becoming the latest through legislation that points to land dispossession, incarceration and harmful stereotypes as reasons for Native Hawaiians’ increased vulnerability to violence.

In Arizona, a couple of dozen people wearing red shirts and skirts gathered in front of the state Capitol in Phoenix. They included several state lawmakers, along with representatives of the Phoenix Indian Center and the motorcycle group Medicine Wheel Ride, which has been carrying a message of awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Shelly Denny, a citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and member of Medicine Wheel Ride, noted support for the cause has been growing as more members of Native communities share their stories.

“This movement was started by Indigenous women, many of whom their names will probably never be known. But they’ve been inching the movement forward,” she said.

Now, she said, “we’ll need to move into prevention, protection and prosecution.”

President Joe Biden has promised to bolster resources to address the crisis and better consult with tribes to hold perpetrators accountable and keep communities safe.

Haaland said that includes more staffing in a U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs unit dedicated to solving cold cases and coordinating with Mexico and Canada to combat human trafficking.

The administration’s work will build on some of the initiatives started during former President Donald Trump’s tenure. That included a task force made up of the Interior Department, the Justice Department and other federal agencies to address violent crime in Indian Country.

Advocates have said a lack of resources, language barriers and complex jurisdictional issues have exacerbated efforts to locate those who are missing and solve other crimes in Indian Country. They also have pointed to the need for more culturally appropriate services and training for how to handle such cases.

Over the past year, advocacy groups also have reported that cases of domestic violence against Indigenous women and children and sexual assault increased as nonprofit groups and social workers scrambled to meet the added challenges that stemmed from the coronavirus pandemic.

Bryan Newland, principal assistant secretary for Indian Affairs at the Interior Department, said staffing at the Bureau of Indian Affairs unit will go from a team of 10 to more than 20 officers and special agents with administrative and support staff it previously didn’t have.

He also said the federal government has started distributing funding under the American Rescue Plan Act, including $60 million for public safety and law enforcement in Indian Country.

“We’re really looking to build upon many of the things that have been done, to expand them and bring focus to them,” Newland said.

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Fonseca reported from Flagstaff, Ariz. Associated Press/Report for America writer Iris Samuels in Helena, Mont., and AP writer Cheyanne Mumphrey in Phoenix contributed to this report.

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NEW YORK (AP) — The government’s key COVID-19 relief program for small businesses has run out of money.

The Small Business Administration said Wednesday that the Paycheck Protection Program has been exhausted. As of Sunday, the PPP had given out nearly 10.8 million loans worth more than $780 billion since April of last year.

The program, which has run out of cash and refunded by Congress twice before, was scheduled to expire May 31. It’s not yet known if lawmakers will approve another round of funding.

The SBA said in a statement it will still fund applications that have been approved. New applications made through Community Financial Institutions, which are financial lenders that serve underserved communities, would also be funded.

More than half the loans and nearly a third of the loan money were distributed this year. The average loan size was $46,000, less than half the $101,000 average loan in 2020. That is a sign that smaller companies unable to get loans last year were now getting funding. Companies have been drawn to the loans because they promised forgiveness if the money is used for payroll and other essentials.

But, while the PPP helped save many companies devastated by the pandemic, the Biden administration has estimated that more than 400,000 U.S. businesses have permanently closed due to the virus.

More aid is still available to small businesses through SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans, and restaurants with no more than 20 locations can apply for grants through the Restaurant Revitalization Fund that began accepting applications on Monday. Help is also available to owners of theaters and other entertainment companies under the Shuttered Venues Operator Grants.

The PPP has been criticized because many very small companies, including those owned by minorities, struggled to have their applications accepted by banks. Many of these companies had to wait weeks or months until community banks, credit unions and online lenders were added to the SBA’s roster of financial institutions.

“The program was always fundamentally flawed as it was based on an unequal traditional banking system,” said John Arensmeyer, CEO of Small Business Majority, an advocacy group. Congress should consider more grants to help companies still struggling due to the pandemic, he said.

Karen Kerrigan, president of the Small Business & Entrepreneur Council, said she was “getting a sense from conversations on Capitol Hill that PPP has run its course.” She said private-sector investment and lending is needed to help small businesses recover, and to help new companies launch.

The PPP was also criticized because it imposed restrictions on sole proprietors without employees. For example, they could not apply for loans until a week after the program began on April 4, 2020. Many also found it difficult to meet the paperwork requirements for loans.

Keith Hall, president of the advocacy group National Association for the Self-Employed, said any companies whose applications were delayed because of restrictions should still get their loans, even if it means Congress needs to allocate more funds to the PPP.

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