More than two thirds of the S&P 500’s members are falling today, but Microsoft and Meta Platforms are keeping the index afloat.
The market benchmark was down 0.1%, moving in and out of negative territory. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.1% after briefly turning negative. The Dow was down 161 points, or 0.4%.
Microsoft shares were still up 4%, while Meta surged 12%. Results from both firms had the S&P and Nasdaq on track for record highs before some profit taking and worries about the economy overpowered the boost from the tech titans’ results. Apple and Amazon.com will also need to keep the ball rolling when they report right after the close.
The rest of the market was struggling after the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge—the core personal consumption expenditures price index—rose at a 2.8% annual rate. The elevated inflation reading lowered odds of a September rate cut.
The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF, a proxy for breadth because it counts every S&P 500 stock the same, was down 0.5%.