Stock market today: Dow closes at a record even as losses for Big Tech pull S&P 500 and Nasdaq lower

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to an all-time high, even as big tech companies weighed on the broader market, leading U.S. stock indexes to a mixed finish on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% Monday, remaining within 0.9% of its record set in July. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.9%, pulled down by several technology companies that tend to tip the market because of their big values. Nvidia lost 2.2%, Microsoft fell 0.8%, Amazon dropped 0.9%, Meta Platforms slid 1.3% and Tesla lost 3.2%.

The Dow rose 0.2%, to 41,240, eclipsing its previous high set in mid-July. The average is less influenced by big tech, with only Apple and Microsoft among the most valuable “Magnificent Seven” stocks in the index. That helped limit the impact of the big tech decliners.

The price of U.S. crude oil jumped 3.5% after Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah traded heavy fire on Sunday, triggering potential supply worries.

Bond yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.82% from 3.80% late Friday.

The stock market is coming off a two-week winning streak that’s helped keep the S&P 500 and Dow within striking distance of notching new highs. Monday’s mixed market finish came at the start of a week featuring another full slate of corporate earnings and the government’s latest inflation reading.

Monday started off with a surprisingly good report showing that orders for long-lasting goods from U.S. factories, including cars, jumped 9.9% in July. An update on consumer confidence is on tap for Tuesday and the U.S. will provide a revised estimate on Thursday of economic growth during the second quarter.

Semiconductor company Nvidia reports its latest financial results on Wednesday. It has been a big beneficiary of Wall Street’s mania around artificial intelligence, becoming one of the stock market’s most massive companies, with a total value topping $3 trillion. The stock is up more than 155% for the year.

Shares in other chipmakers also fell. Broadcom lost 4.1%, Advanced Micro Devices dropped 3.2% and Lam Research slid 3.4%.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 17.77 points to 5,616.84. The Dow rose 65.44 points to 41,240.52, and the Nasdaq dropped 152.03 points to close at 17,725.76.

Others companies reporting quarterly results this week include Kohl’s, Chewy, Salesforce and Dollar General.

The key report for investors this week will come on Friday, when the the government serves up its latest data on inflation with the PCE, or personal consumption and expenditures report, for July. It is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell strongly signaled on Friday that the central bank is planning to start cutting its benchmark interest rate, which currently stands at a two-decade high. The Fed raised interest rates in order to tame inflation back to its target of 2%. The final push to the target has been elusive.

Inflation has been steadily easing and economists polled by FactSet expect the latest PCE data to show a 2.6% inflation reading. The PCE was as high as 7.1% in the middle of 2022.

The Fed has been trying to tame inflation by slowing economic growth, but not by so much that it causes a recession. The dynamics of its concerns have shifted.

“Recent commentary coming out of conversations with Fed officials shows they care more about the risk of the economy slowing,” said Nathan Thooft, chief investment officer and senior portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management.

Traders are forecasting a rate cut to come at the Fed's meeting in September. They expect the central bank to trim its main interest rate by at least 1 percentage point by the end of the year, according to data from CME Group.

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is shown on Aug. 13, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

A custodian cleans up an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A custodian cleans an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

NEW YORK (AP) — Solar storms may bring faint but visible auroras to the Northern Hemisphere starting late Thursday and extending into early Friday morning.

But, experts say, don't expect power grids and communications to be disrupted much.

People in Canada and northern U.S. states including Alaska, Washington, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota may be able to see faint colorful displays, according to the current space weather forecast.

If the moderate solar storms become more intense as nighttime approaches, people as far south as Illinois and New York might be able to glimpse the phenomenon.

“All the stars have to align” for that to happen, said Erica Grow Cei, spokesperson for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

To spy the spectacle, wait for skies to get dark and then go outside, ideally away from bright city lights. Taking a picture with a smartphone camera may also reveal hints of the aurora that aren't visible to the naked eye.

The sun’s magnetic field is at the peak of its 11-year cycle, making storms and aurora displays more frequent. Unusually strong solar storms in May produced vibrant aurora displays across the Northern Hemisphere.

The night storms are expected to be less intense, but could cause brief disruptions to precision GPS machinery like what farmers use to harvest crops, Grow Cei said.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Flares of northern lights color the sky over the White Mountains just after midnight, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, as viewed from a mountaintop in Chatham, N.H. Lights on the summit of Mount Washington can be seen on the ridgeline at left. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

The moon rises over Alton, New Hampshire as Canada and northern U.S. cities experience moderate solar storms that could spark aurora borealis, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

The moon shines over people parked at a scenic overlook to watch for aurora borealis in Alton Bay, New Hampshire as Canada and northern U.S. cities experience moderate solar storms, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

In this long exposure photo, a ring forms around the moon as cars drive along Mt. Major Highway near Lake Winnipesaukee in Alton Bay, N.H., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, as Canada and northern U.S. cities experience moderate solar storms. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

FILE - In this image taken with a long exposure, people look at the night sky towards the northern lights, or Aurora Borealis, May 10, 2024, in Estacada, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)