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Stocks Are Split as Tech Takes Center Stage -- Barrons.com
12:49 pm ET July 31, 2020 (Dow Jones) Print

By Teresa Rivas

Tech stocks are doing their best, but their blowout earnings couldn't rescue the broader market from declines.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4% near midday, while the S&P 500 was near the breakeven point. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8%, helped by blockbuster earnings from four big tech players, with only Google's parent, Alphabet (GOOGL), ticking lower.

"In a nutshell, we view last night's...earnings as a catalyst moving tech stocks higher as the strong continue to get stronger with investors focused on the secular winners for the coming year," wrote Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives. "Expectations were high for tech stalwarts...and they knocked it out of the park."

Silicon Valley aside, some other earnings were more downbeat, including from Chevron (CVX), which fell 4.8% after disclosing lower-than-expected profits and large writedowns. Exxon Mobil (XOM) didn't fare much better, and dropped 1.3%.

Another bit of downbeat news is that consumer spending slowed as incomes declined in June. Supplemental unemployment benefits expire today, and there is no sign of an agreement to extend them in Congress.

Elsewhere, Beyond Meat (BYND) rose 0.8% on news its products are now at the convenience-store favorite Wawa.

Merck (MRK) rose 0.8% as strong Keytruda sales boosted results.

A robust quarter lifted Pinterest (PINS) shares by 32.4%.

Under Armour (UAA) gave up early gains, and was off 8.3% following earnings.

Write to Teresa Rivas at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 31, 2020 12:49 ET (16:49 GMT)

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