Stocks Near Records Despite Mixed Performance on Wall Street

Stocks on Wall Street continued their mixed performance Wednesday, remaining close to record highs despite some declines. The S&P 500 index fell 12.97 points, or 0.2%, to close at 7,723.55, while the Dow Jones industrial Average rose 263.24 points, or 0.5%, to 54,349.12, reaching another record.

The market has been generally rising as companies head into the closing stretch of their latest round of earnings reports with sharp overall gains. Three-quarters of the companies within the S&P 500 have reported results so far, and Wall Street expects profit growth of 50% when they are all finished.

However, some big technology companies slumped, weighing down the market, including a 4% drop for Alphabet, Google's parent company, and a 1.1% drop for Microsoft.