Stocks struggled for much of Wednesday, fighting off the effects of higher interest rates and rising oil prices.
But technology stocks were clear winners, thanks to a bullish outlook from chipmaker Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU).
The S&P 500 closed down 0.12%, giving up a small gain in the last 30 minutes of trading. The Dow Jones industrials ended down 0.04% after rising as much as 112 points, or 0.4%, in the morning. The Nasdaq Composite index added 0.32%. But the tech-heavy index gave up two-thirds of an early gain by the close.
Micron jumped more than 13% thanks to its outlook that suggested a global glut of semiconductors was fading. Micron was the top performer in the NASDAQ 100 index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which was up 3.2%. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) was the top performer among the Dow stocks. Graphics chip maker NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) added 5.1%.
The chip stocks pulled all things technology higher, with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) showing gains.
At the same time, energy shares moved higher as oil prices gained on a shocking decline in domestic oil supplies. Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) was up 5.6%. Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR) added 6.7%.
Those gains were offset by the investors fleeing from staples stocks like Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and healthcare and health insurance stocks. Plus, stocks vulnerable to interest rate increases, such as utilities, were hit as the 10-Year Treasury yield moved above 2% on the day, ending at 2.05%. The Dow Jones Utility Average fell 2%.
The rate increase was probably due to signals from the Federal Reserve that a widely-expected interest-rate cut in July won't be as big as expected or as President Donald Trump is demanding. The President wants a half-point cut in the federal funds rate, now at 2.25% to 2.5%. 's Fed Rate Monitor Tool suggests the central bank will cut the fed funds rate to 2% to 2.25% in July, with another rate cut in September.
President Trump is headed to Tokyo night for the two-day G-20 summit, where he and his trade negotiators will try to negotiate a new deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting set for Saturday. He'll also meet privately with Russia President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
With Wednesday's close, there are just two trading days left in the second quarter. The S&P 500 is up nearly 6% for June but only 2.9% for the quarter, thanks to a nasty pullback in May. It is still up 16.4% for the year. The Dow, up nearly 7% for June, is up 2.4% for the quarter and 13.8% for the year. The Nasdaq has risen 6.2% so far in June and 19.3% for the year. But the index is up just 2.4% for the quarter.
