US Stocks Near Records Amid Corporate Profits, Stable Oil Prices
Stocks on Wall Street closed mixed Wednesday, but remained near record highs. The S&P 500 fell 12.97 points to close at 7,723.55, while the Dow Jones industrial Average rose 263.24 points to reach another record at 54,349.12.
The Nasdaq fell 221.55 points to 26,363.44, weighed down by big technology companies losing ground, including a 4% drop for Google's parent company Alphabet and a 1.1% drop for Microsoft.
Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide, said the S&P 500 Index surged to record highs for the first time in two months. The market has been generally rising as companies head into the closing stretch of their latest round of earnings reports with sharp overall gains.
Corporate profits and expectations for more growth have been steering stocks higher. However, there is concern that stock prices may be unjustifiably high, especially within the technology sector and for companies focused on artificial intelligence.