Tech Stocks Weigh on S&P 500

Declines in technology stocks pulled the S&P 500 away from record territory on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 40 points, or 0.2%, to 21751 in recent trade. The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.4%.

Major indexes have climbed to fresh highs this week as a flurry of corporate earnings reports have pointed to continued strength among U.S. firms.

With second-quarter results in from nearly half of S&P 500 companies, the broader index is poised to report earnings growth of 9% from the year-earlier period, according to FactSet. That would build on gains from the first quarter, when U.S. companies reported their fastest earnings growth in nearly six years.

"Earnings are coming in above expectations, which is justifying the move up in equities," said Jeff Zipper, managing director at the Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank, which has $145 billion under management. "At the same time, the weaker dollar is good for multinationals' bottom lines."

Technology stocks fell 0.8% in the S&P 500, with Advanced Micro Devices, Nvidia and Mastercard posting among the steepest losses.

The declines offset a rally in shares of Facebook, which said Wednesday afternoon that profit rose 71% in the second quarter. Facebook shares added 4.6%, hovering near a new high in market value.

Consumer-discretionary shares rose 0.6% in the S&P 500. Viacom jumped 3.3%, among the biggest gainers in the sector for the day, after The Wall Street Journal reported the firm was out of the running to acquire media company Scripps Networks Interactive.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.1% after swinging on the latest batch of corporate earnings.

Shares of Royal Dutch Shell gained 0.7% after the company reported a sharp increase in cash flow from operating activities. Deutsche Bank shares fell 6.5% after the bank beat analysts' expectations in the second quarter, but said revenue fell on the year.

Government bonds pulled back, with the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rising to 2.310%, according to Tradeweb, from 2.285% on Wednesday. Yields rise as bond prices fall.

Earlier, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.7% to its highest close since June 2015.

Write to Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com and Georgi Kantchev at georgi.kantchev@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 27, 2017 13:35 ET (17:35 GMT)