Investing.com – US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday as investors weighed a slump in tech stocks and data pointing to underlying strength in the US economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 23,940.68. The S&P 500 closed 0.04% lower, while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6824.32, down 1.27%.
Stocks came under pressure as a slump in tech stocks weighed on the Nasdaq amid signs that investors were rotating from tech to financials, on expectations that the latter is more sensitive to lower taxes, less regulation and bullish economic growth.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), (NASDAQ:NFLX), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – the so-called FANG Stocks – closed sharply lower, while JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) added to gains from Tuesday’s session.
On the economic front, investors cheered data suggesting that the US economy remained on track for a solid final quarter of the year.
Gross domestic product increased at a 3.3% annual rate in the July-September period, the Commerce Department said in its second estimate of GDP on Wednesday, beating a previous estimate of 3%.
Meanwhile, positive sentiment on tax reform continued as investors looked ahead to the U.S. Senate floor vote on bill slated for Thursday after the Senate budget committee voted 12-11 in favour of the tax bill on Tuesday.
Signs of progress on the tax reform front comes a little over a week after the US House of Representatives passed its version of tax legislation. For the bill to reach US President Donald Trump’s desk, the two chambers must agree on a final version.
'Bulls and Bears' on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) up 3.1%, JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) up 2.3% and Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) up 2.2%
Visa Inc (NYSE:V) down 3.1%, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) down 2.1% and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) down 1.8%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.