Stocks drift to mixed finish amid choppy trading

U.S. stock indexes NEW YORK — capped a day of choppy trading with a mixed finish Thursday, though solid gains by technology companies helped lift the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite to more record highs.

The S&P 500 edged up less than 0.1%. Traders bid up shares in Big Tech stocks, including Apple, Amazon and Facebook. Those gains helped outweigh losses in energy stocks, banks and elsewhere. Stocks in smaller companies, which have led the way higher this year, gave up some of their recent gains.

Stocks have been mostly grinding higher this month amid optimism that COVID-19 vaccines will lead to an economic recovery and expectations that Washington will deliver more stimulus for the economy. More recently, better-than-expected results from companies reporting quarterly results have helped keep U.S. stock indexes hovering near record highs or notching new ones.

“Today is similar to yesterday in the sense that the broad indexes are flat or higher, but it’s actually the tech names that have taken leadership again,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird.

The S&P 500 rose 1.22 points to 3,853.07, even as more stocks in the index closed lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped in the final minutes of trading, shedding 12.37 points, or less than 0.1%, to 31,176.01. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed 73.67 points, or 0.6%, to 13,530.91. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 19.20 points, or 0.9%, to 2,141.42.

Optimism about a strengthening economy later this year has been powerful enough to paper over worries about today’s struggles. On Thursday, a report showed that 900,000 U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, as the worsening pandemic forces businesses to shut down and lay off employees.