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Tech Stocks Drop, Weigh on Wall Street 02/04 15:28
More drops for technology stocks weighed on Wall Street Wednesday.
NEW YORK (AP) -- More drops for technology stocks weighed on Wall Street
Wednesday.
The S&P 500 fell 0.5% for its fifth modest loss in the last six days. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 260 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite
sank 1.5%.
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.
Advanced Micro Devices dropped 17.3% even though the chip company reported a
stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also gave a
forecast for revenue for the start of 2026 that topped analysts' expectations,
but that may not have been enough for investors after its stock had doubled
over the last 12 months.
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.
Uber Technologies also dragged on the market after falling 5.1%. The
ride-hailing company reported results for the latest quarter that fell short of
analysts' expectations. It also gave a forecast for profit in the current
quarter that was below analysts' expectations, while naming a new chief
financial officer.
Some tech stocks nevertheless climbed, including a 13.8% rise for Super
Micro Computer. The company, which sells AI servers and other equipment,
delivered a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
Eli Lilly rallied 10.3% after topping analysts' expectations for profit in
the latest quarter. It's been riding big growth created by its Mounjaro and
Zepbound products for diabetes and weight loss.
Match Group climbed 5.9% after reporting better results than analysts
expected and increasing its dividend. The company credited early signs of
success from efforts to improve outcomes for users. It said a new facial
verification feature for its Tinder service, for example, led to a sharp drop
in interactions with "bad actors" where it's been rolled out.
Walmart edged up by 0.2%, a day after its total market value topped $1
trillion for the first time. The retailer has broken into a small club
dominated by Big Tech companies like Nvidia and Apple, which are each worth
more than $4 trillion.
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.
Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.8% from its all-time high. Nintendo sank 11%, even
as the video game company reported strong profits. Investors and analysts are
concerned about whether sales momentum can be maintained for the Switch 2 game
console that was rolled out last year.
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