Markets rally to record after slow start

S&P 500 finishes up for sixth straight day

Stock indexes closed out another wobbly day of trading on Wall Street with an uneven finish Thursday that includes more all-time highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

The benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent, extending its winning streak to a sixth day. The index has notched a succession of record-high closes, often on days when the market got off to a downbeat start.

The Nasdaq climbed

0.8 percent, its ninthstraight gain and latest record high for the techheavy index. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped less than 0.1 percent, ending the blue-chip index’s fiveday winning streak.

More companies in the S&P 500 fell than rose, but gains by several big technology companies helped outweigh losses elsewhere in the market.

Despite the mixed outcome, the market’s latest milestones underscore how traders remain in a buying mood, encouraged by solid company earnings and by the Federal Reserve’s decision, at least for now, to only slowly begin dialing back policies aimed at spurring U.S. economic growth when it was in the throes of the pandemic recession.

The S&P 500 rose 19.49 points to 4,680.06. The index is on pace for its fifth straight weekly gain. The last time that happened was during July and August of last year.

The Dow fell 33.35 points to 36,124.23, while the Nasdaq added 128.72 points to 15,940.31.

Investors continued to focus on the latest round of corporate earnings. Chipmaker Qualcomm jumped 12.7 percent after it gave investors an encouraging profit forecast and reported strong quarterly results. Other chipmakers also rallied. Nvidia rose 12 percent and Advanced Micro Devices rose 5.3 percent.

A mix of companies that rely on direct consumer spending for goods and services also made solid gains. Tesla rose 1.3 percent, eclipsing the all-time high it set a day earlier.

Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.52 percent from 1.58 percent late Wednesday. The lower yields weighed down banks, which rely on higher yields to charge more lucrative interest on loans. Bank of America fell 2.2 percent.

Solid earnings and financial forecasts helped video game maker Electronic

Arts gain 2.1 percent and Take-two Interactive rise 4.8 percent.