Tech gains send indexes higher even as most stocks fall

Big technology companies powered more gains on Wall Street on Thursday, even as most stocks fell after more discouraging data on the economy.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.3% after rallying back from an earlier 0.6% loss as investors weighed new government data showing an increase in the number of Americans who sought unemployment aid last week. A separate report from the Federal Reserve

Bank of Philadelphia said that manufacturing activity in its region is slowing. Like the jobless claims report, that reading was also weaker than economists had forecast.

The discouraging reports helped send 2 in 3 stocks in the S&P 500 lower. Energy producers and financial companies had some of the sharpest drops. Treasury yields also fell, reflecting caution in the market.

But tech stocks in the S&P 500 nevertheless rose 1.4%, continuing a remarkable run of resilience that has carried through the pandemic. The industry has been delivering big profits as the pandemic accelerates work-from-home and other tech-friendly trends. And because they’re among the biggest stocks by total market value, their movements carry more weight on the index.

The S&P 500 rose 10.66 points to 3,385.51. The gains kept the benchmark index close to its record level. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 46.85 points, or 0.2%, to 27,739.73.

The strength in tech stocks, meanwhile, helped lift the Nasdaq composite up 118.49 points, or 1.1%, to 11,264.95, a record high. Smaller companies didn’t fare as well. The Russell 2000 index lost 7.76 points, or 0.5%, to 1,564.30.

Apple was among the stocks that led the tech sector’s gains Tuesday. The iPhone maker rose 2.2% and is once again flirting with a total market value of $2 trillion. It’s the first U.S. stock to cross that threshold.

Intel rose 1.7% after it said it will speed up $10 billion in buybacks of its own stock because it sees the price as cheap relative to its value.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 0.65% from 0.67% late Wednesday.