Indexes end mixed on weak tech earnings

Weak quarterly results from several big technology companies weighed on stocks Wednesday, leaving major indexes mixed on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent after shedding an early gain, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 2 percent. The lower finish ended a three-day winning streak for both indexes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended just barely in the green after having been up 1.1 percent, thanks in part to a big jump in Visa.

Smaller-company stocks far outpaced the broader market, lifting the Russell 2000 index by 0.5 percent.

“A handful of very large companies are weighing on the indexes,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at All Star Charts. “The more exposed you are to those mega-cap tech stocks the more you’re down today, and the less exposed you are the less you’re down.”

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, slumped 9.6 percent after it reported disappointing thirdquarter financial results as advertising sales weakened. Weak ad sales are threatening other tech and communications companies. Spotify fell 13 percent after it reported a bigger thirdquarter loss than Wall Street expected.

Microsoft slid 7.7 percent after it reported disappointing growth for its cloud computing company, while profits fell along with PC sales. Texas Instruments fell 2.6 percent after giving investors a discouraging forecast for the current quarter.

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, fell 10.8 percent in afterhours trading following the release of its third-quarter earnings, which fell short of analysts’ forecasts, according to FactSet. The stock fell 5.6 percent in regular trading.

Stocks with huge valuations can have a big effect on market indexes. In the S&P 500, the slide in technolgy and communications stocks outweighed gains elsewhere in the benchmark index, including in health care and energy companies.

Traders bid up shares in companies that delivered improved quarterly results Wednesday.

Visa rose 4.6 percent after reporting strong financial results and raising its dividend. Norfolk Southern gained 2.9 percent after reporting a surge in profits on an increase in shipping rates.

Outside of earnings, Mobileye Global, Intel’s self-driving unit, rose 38 percent in its market debut.

The tech-stock losses also overshadowed another slide in Treasury yields, which helped boost stocks earlier in the week as they pulled back from their multiyear highs.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.01 percent from 4.10 percent late Tuesday. The twoyear yield fell to 4.42 percent from 4.48 percent.