More drops for technology stocks weighed on Wall Street Wednesday.
More than twice as many stocks rose within the S&P 500 than fell, but sinking technology stocks weighed on the index for a second straight day.
Tech stocks are broadly feeling pressure, even when they deliver stronger-than-expected profits. Big Tech stocks are facing criticism that their prices shot too high following their yearslong dominance of the market. Companies like software makers, meanwhile, are struggling with questions about whether they’ll lose in the future to competitors powered by artificial-intelligence technology.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 35.09 points to 6,882.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 260.31 to 49,501.30, and the Nasdaq composite fell 350.61 to 22,904.58.
Gold and silver prices rose after paring bigger, early gains. Gold added 0.3% to settle at $4,950.80 per ounce after earlier climbing back above the $5,000 mark. It’s been swinging sharply after roughly doubling in price over 12 months. It neared $5,600 last week and then fell below $4,500 on Monday.
Silver’s price, which has been on an even wilder ride, rose 1.3%.
Their prices had surged as investors looked for safer places to keep their money amid worries about everything from tariffs to a weaker U.S. dollar to heavy debt loads for governments worldwide. But critics said their prices rose too far, too fast and were due for a pullback.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady following a couple mixed reports on the U.S. economy.
One from ADP Research suggested that U.S. employers outside of the government hired fewer workers last month than economists expected. A second from the Institute for Supply Management said that growth for health care, construction and other U.S. services businesses continued in January at the same pace that economists expected.
That second report, though, also indicated that prices paid by U.S. services businesses rose at a faster rate in January, which could be a discouraging signal for inflation.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.27% from 4.28% late Tuesday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.
South Korea’s Kospi, meanwhile, climbed 1.6% to another record.
___
AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.
