The S&P 500 closed lower after retreating from fresh all-time intraday highs Wednesday, as a climb in Alphabet wasn’t enough to offset losses in the chip stocks as investors appeared take profit on the latter following strong gains a day later.
Unlock AI-powered stock picks with InvestingPro At 2:28 p.m. ET (19:28 GMT), the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9%, benchmark S&P slipped 0.3% after earlier hitting an all-time intrady high of 6,965.69, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2%.
Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) ended the day up 2% as sentiment on risk soured even as Canaccord Genuity lifted its price target on tech giant to $390.00 from $330.00 on optimism that the company’s efforts in boosting AI development will drive further growth. Other big tech stocks, however, struggled to keep up with both Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) ended the day in the red.
Chip stocks, excluding Nvidia, were nursing big losses as investors appeared to cash in on the rally in the sector from a day earlier, with Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) among the biggest losers on the day.
Soft labor market in focus In its place, a fresh batch of crucial U.S. economic indicators is expected to step into the spotlight.
U.S. private employers added fewer jobs than anticipated in December, although the figure was a reversal from a steep decline in the preceding month. Private payrolls rose by 41,000 in the last month of 2025, compared to a dip of 29,000 in November, according to monthly figures from ADP. Economists had anticipated a reading of 49,000.
