Stocks ended mostly lower, though the Dow Jones Industrial Average appeared to cling to a tiny gain Wednesday, with the market unable to fully shake off weak earnings from tech behemoths Microsoft Corp.
MSFT,
and Google parent Alphabet Inc.
GOOG,
GOOGL,
The Dow
DJIA,
ended with a gain of just over 3 points, or less than 0.1%, according to preliminary figures. If the gain holds, the blue-chip gauge will have extended its winning streak to four sessions. The S&P 500
SPX,
ended with a loss of 0.7%, while the Nasdaq
COMP,
shed 2%. Microsoft ended the day with a loss of 7.7%, while Alphabet shares dropped more than 9%. The tech sector fell 2.2%, while communications services, which includes Alphabet, dropped 4.7% to lead the way lower.
