Stock market today: Wall Street sees mixed results after late-day selling, drop for Nvidia

AP Business Writers

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 benchmark index is about 1.3% away from its record set in July.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a 0.6% gain, enough for its third all-time high since Monday. The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, slipped 0.2%. It had been up 1.3% in the early going.

Despite the mixed finish, gainers outnumbered decliners by roughly two to one on the New York Stock Exchange.

Nvidia, which has ridden the frenzy over artificial intelligence to become one of the S&P 500’s most influential companies, was the biggest weight on the market. Its shares fell 6.4% despite stellar results for the second quarter. The stock, with a total market value topping $3 trillion, 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 tech stalwart delivered massive ‘drop the mic’ numbers yet again,” he said.

The market rallied earlier as encouraging data helped shift traders’ focus back on the U.S. economy.

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%. It’s another signal that the economy remains strong, despite pressure from stubborn inflation and high interest rates.

Traders also had their eye on more corporate earnings.

CrowdStrike Holdings rose 2.8% after the cybersecurity company beat analysts’ second-quarter financial forecasts. The company had a botched software update during its most recent quarter, which triggered a technology meltdown that stranded thousands of people in airports, among other disruptions.

Dollar General slumped 32.1% after cutting its earnings forecast. Best Buy jumped 14.1% after the nation’s largest consumer electronics chain beat Wall Street forecasts, even as sales slipped and it cut guidance for the year.

The mostly solid earnings and economic growth updates are capping off a month of encouraging reports for the broader economy. Data from various reports in August have shown that retail sales, employment and consumer confidence remain strong.

“Solid growth of consumer spending propelled the economy forward in the second quarter, and the increase of consumer confidence in July suggests it will propel growth in the second half of the year as well,” said Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank.

The key report this week comes on Friday, when the U.S. government releases its July data on inflation with the PCE, or personal consumption and expenditures report. Economists expect the PCE, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, 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.

The solid economic data and easing of inflation have bolstered hopes for the Federal Reserve to achieve what it hopes is a “soft landing” for the economy after raising its benchmark interest rate to a two-decade high. The goal was to slow the economy and tame inflation without causing a recession.

The central bank has signaled that it intends to start cutting its benchmark interest rate. Traders expect the first cut to happen at the next meeting in September. The market is betting that the Fed will cut its benchmark rate by 1% by the end of the year.

Anticipation for lower interest rates ahead is helping to ease some pressure on what has been a tight housing market. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage eased for the second week in a row and remains at its lowest level in more than a year. Still, most economists expect it will take even lower rates to get would-be homebuyers off the sidelines.

Bond yields rose in the Treasury market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.86% from 3.84% late Wednesday.

All told, the S&P 500 lost 0.22 points to 5,591.96. The Dow gained 243.63 points to 41,335.05. The Nasdaq fell 39.60 points to 17,516.43.

Markets in Europe were mostly higher and markets in Asia were mixed.