NEW YORK: The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were little changed on Wednesday, with declines in heavily weighted technology megacaps limiting gains as investors turned to small-cap and financial stocks after a slew of upbeat bank earnings.
Morgan Stanley leapt 7.8% to a record high after it joined peers such as JPMorgan Chase JPM.N in reporting strong profits following a sharp increase in investment banking revenue.
The Dow regained some lost ground after a selloff in the previous session, lifted by a 3% rebound in the shares of UnitedHealth and a 1.9% gain in Goldman Sachs.
The small-cap Russell 2000 index .RUT leapt 1.5% to a more than two-month high as investors rotated from expensive tech megacaps to less expensive sectors.
“There has been a broadening out in terms of participation... in the small caps versus the large caps,” said Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments.
“That’s a positive sign, some of it having to do with interest rates coming down and some relief on the balance sheet side for more highly levered smaller-cap companies.”
Among lenders, First Horizon FHN.N gained 4% and US Bancorp USB.N rose 5% after reporting third-quarter results. The broader Banks .SPXBK index was up 1% and an index tracking regional banks .KRX rose 1.9%.
Apple AAPL.O lost 1.6% after hitting a record high in the previous session, Microsoft MSFT.O was off 1% and Meta Platforms META.O fell 1.9%.
Chip heavyweight Nvidia, however, bucked the megacap slide, rising 1.7% after slumping nearly 5% in the previous session.
Gains in the so-called Magnificent Seven group of tech stocks have been the primary drivers of Wall Street’s record-breaking run this year. However, with valuations increasingly stretched and a brighter economic outlook, investors have been seeking opportunities elsewhere.
“Valuations for (the largest tech stocks) are somewhat lofty. When you see the daily gyrations in the market, it’s based primarily on how the earnings situation looks for those firms,” said Scott Welch, chief investment officer at Certuity.
Utilities led sectoral gains and was up 1.2%. The economically sensitive Transport index jumped 2%, lifted by an 11% leap in United Airlines after it forecast better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and announced a $1.5-billion share buyback program on Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 203.46 points, or 0.48%, to 42,936.19, the S&P 500 gained 7.32 points, or 0.13%, to 5,822.58 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 16.73 points, or 0.09%, to 18,298.86.
More corporate earnings are due through the week, along with key economic data including the retail sales and industrial production figures for September on Thursday.
Bets on a 25-basis-point rate cut at the central bank’s November meeting have risen to 92.8%, according to CME’s FedWatch.
US-listed shares of chip equipment-maker ASML Holding lost 5.7% after the company cut its 2025 financial forecast, while Intel fell 2% after the Cybersecurity Association of China recommended initiating a review of the chipmaker’s products sold in the country.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.53-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 2.71-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 41 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 134 new highs and 39 new lows.