A late-afternoon slide by some big tech companies cut into Wall Street’s gains Thursday, leading to a mixed finish for U.S. stock indexes.
The S&P 500 ended flat after giving up an earlier gain of nearly 1%. The index is about 1.3% away from its record set in July.
The Dow managed a 0.6% gain, enough for its third all-time high since Monday. The Nasdaq, heavily weighted with technology stocks, slipped 0.2%. It had been up 1.3% in the early going.
Despite the mixed finish, gainers outnumbered the New York Stock Exchange decliners by roughly two to one.
Nvidia, which has ridden the frenzy over artificial intelligence to become one of the S&P 500’s most influential companies, was the most significant weight on the market. Its shares fell 6.4% despite stellar results for the second quarter. With a total market value topping $3 trillion, the stock is still up 138% in 2024.
Nvidia’s earnings beat and forecast may not have been a big enough surprise for some traders, but surging demand for its artificial intelligence chips show that “it is powering the AI revolution,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors.
The Commerce Department upgraded its assessment of U.S. economic growth for the second quarter to 3%, compared to a previous estimate of 2.8%. This is another signal that the economy remains strong despite pressure from stubborn inflation and higher interest rates.
PCE, the government’s “preferred” measure of inflation, will be released tomorrow. It is expected to show that inflation edged up to 2.6% in July from 2.5% in June. It was as high as 7.1% in the middle of 2022.
See you in the morning.