US stocks had a mixed start on Wall Street Wednesday as
significant drops in several heavyweight technology stocks weighed on major
indexes, offsetting gains elsewhere in the market.

The S&P 500 fell 11.47 points or 0.30% to 3,847.64 as
of 10.17 am Eastern time.  The Dow Jones
Industrial Average rose 148.46 points or 0.47% to 31,985.30. The tech-heavy
Nasdaq fell 149.12 points or 1.33% to 11,050.

Technology companies, with their pricey valuations, can
have a big effect on market indexes. A decline in major tech stocks weighed
down the S&P 500 even though 80% of the stocks were higher.

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Alphabet, parent company of Google, tumbled 7.2% after it
reported disappointing third-quarter financial results as advertising sales
declined. Weak ad sales are threatening other tech and communications
companies. Music streaming platform Spotify slipped 8% after it reported a
wider-than-expected loss for the third quarter.

The broader market was also pulled down by Microsoft’s 7%
decline after it reported disappointing growth for its cloud computing company,
while profits dropped along with PC sales. Chipmaker Texas Instruments slipped
3.5% after giving investors a discouraging forecast for the current quarter.

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Several other major tech companies are scheduled to report
earnings this week. Facebook’s parent, Meta, will report earnings later
Wednesday. Apple will report its results on Thursday. E-commerce giant Amazon
will also report its results on Thursday along with industrial bellwether
Caterpillar and McDonald’s.

Long-term Treasury yields continued to fall from their
multiyear highs. Gains in those rates have sent mortgage rates sharply higher
this year. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.02% from 4.10% late
Tuesday. The two-year yield slipped to 4.40% from 4.48%.

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Homebuilding firms surged following an encouraging report
on sales of newly built homes. Lennar fell 1.4%.

Investors are closely watching earnings reports this week,
but are waiting for several economic updates as they try to get further
insights on how inflation is impacting businesses, consumers, and the Federal
Reserve’s plans for interest rate hikes.

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The government will release its first estimates on the
third-quarter gross domestic product report on Thursday. The government will
release its report on personal income, consumption, and spending on Friday.