NYSE Dow Jones Hits Record High for 5th Consecutive Session... S&P and Nasdaq Close Lower

The U.S. New York Stock Exchange continued its strong upward momentum, with investors clearly showing a preference for risk assets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time high for the fifth consecutive trading day, but profit-taking in tech stocks pushed the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq lower, resulting in a mixed market close.

Three Major Indices and Intraday Trends At the close of the NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 263 points (0.49%) from the previous session to 54,349.12. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index fell 12.97 points (-0.17%) to 7,723.55, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 221.55 points (-0.83%) to close at 26,363.44.

During intraday trading, however, both the S&P 500 and the Dow posted record highs for the second consecutive day, and the Nasdaq also rose as much as 0.4%. Notably, the S&P 500 had surpassed the 7,700 mark for the first time the previous day, setting a new all-time high. On a weekly basis, the S&P 500 surged more than 6%, while the Dow and Nasdaq climbed over 5% and 9%, respectively, marking their strongest weekly gains since April of last year.

Strong Earnings and AI Expectations Drive Gains Approximately 90% of U.S. companies that reported earnings exceeded market expectations. Disney's stock rose more than 2% on strong third-quarter results, and Eli Lilly jumped 7%, driven by a surge in sales of its obesity treatment.

Semiconductor and AI-related stocks also showed strength. Nvidia surged more than 4% after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated, "We will only use Nvidia processors for our AI computing infrastructure." Micron rose 1%, while SanDisk and Western Digital were slated to report earnings after the market close. Intel and SK Hynix remained roughly flat, with mixed movements across individual stocks.

Baird investment strategist Ross Mayfield commented, "The magnitude of the stock price gains over the past few days is historically rare." He diagnosed that the combination of expectations for increased AI investment and easing tensions in the Middle East could sustain the U.S. stock market's upward momentum for the time being. He assessed that investors' risk appetite has strongly revived.

Tech Stock Profit-Taking and SpaceX Plunge Meanwhile, profit-taking emerged within the tech sector, pushing some stocks lower. SpaceX, which reported its first quarterly results since going public, announced that its second-quarter capital expenditures surged sixfold year-over-year to $18.4 billion. The majority of this was related to artificial intelligence (AI) investment, but investors remained cautious about whether massive AI spending would translate into actual revenue growth. Additionally, the lifting of lock-up periods starting on the 6th added further selling pressure, causing SpaceX's stock to plunge 11–13%, marking its largest drop since going public.

AMD also fell nearly 6–7%, as its earnings, while slightly exceeding expectations, were deemed insufficient to meet market sentiment. Alphabet (Google's parent company) dropped around 4% as news of an AI organizational reshuffle and the departure of Chief Scientist Jeff Dean negatively impacted investor sentiment.

Macroeconomic Indicators and Other Market Trends U.S. economic indicators were mixed. Private-sector employment in July increased by only 44,000, slowing from June's gain of 95,000 and falling short of market expectations. Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for July came in at 54.1, a slight increase from June's 54.0. Although it missed the market forecast of 54.5, it remained above the baseline of 50, indicating that the expansion in the services sector is ongoing.

Keith Lerner of Truist Advisory Services analyzed, "Earnings are still acting as the market's compass," adding that he positively evaluates the resilience of the economy, the broadening of market participation, and the easing of excessive valuations.

In the commodities and bond markets, oil prices weakened. September-delivery WTI fell more than 1% to $74.80 per barrel, and Brent crude dropped 0.8% to trade around $78. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note was 4.621%, similar to the previous day, while the 2-year yield stood at 4.206%. The ICE Dollar Index slipped 0.1% to 99.746, and spot gold prices rose 2.9% to trade at $4,194.38 per ounce.