Reuters.- The Nasdaq closed little changed this afternoon thanks to the momentum of the Microsoft and Alphabet hikes, They posted strong results, but falling oil prices and falling yields weighed on cyclical sectors and dragged down the S&P 500.
Microsoft Corp rose to an all-time high after anticipating a good end of the year, driven in part by its burgeoning cloud business. Alphabet Inc. skyrocketed after posting a record quarterly profit on increased ad sales.
The gains of these two stocks on Wall Street were almost 100 points higher for the Nasdaq. Microsoft was also the biggest driver for the Dow Jones and the S&P 500.
The decline in long-term US Treasury yields and the flattening of the return curve They also contributed to supporting growth stocks, such as luxury consumer goods and communications services, the only sectors that closed higher.
The yield on the 10-year US bond fell on Wall Street for the fourth day in a row, falling more than 6 basis points, its biggest one-day decline since Aug. 13.
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Wall Street watches growth stocks
“Growth stocks will get a boost not just from earnings, it’s because interest rates are lower, ”said Megan Horneman, director of portfolio strategy at Verdence Capital Advisors.
“Interest rates are temporarily lower because there is some uncertainty from a tax point of view and what that might cause. We know that the Federal Reserve is going to reduce bond purchases, but now there is much talk about what the future of the Federal Reserve will be like. “
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 22.54 points, or 0.49%, at 4,552.25 units, while the Nasdaq gained 2.79 points, or 0.02%, to 15,238.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 260.69 points, or 0.73%, to 35,496.19 units.
The flattening of the curve also weakened financials, while the fall in crude prices following the data on stocks in the United States dragged the shares of the energy sector.
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