Stocks drift to mixed close, but S&P 500 ekes out new record

U.S. stock indexes 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.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped in the final minutes of trading, shedding less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.6%, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 0.9%.