Tech companies pull markets back from record highs

Stock indexes pulled back from their record highs Thursday after an afternoon swoon for technology companies helped overshadow another big day for telecoms.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.10 percent,from its record set a day earlier to close at 2,475.42. The Nasdaq composite likewise fell from a record, down 0.63 percent to 6,382.19.

The Dow Jones industrial average was an exception, and it rose 85.54 points to 21,796.55 to set another all-time high.

Stocks had been on track for another quiet day of gains in a year full of them, but Apple, Microsoft and other technology stocks suddenly changed direction in the afternoon. After being up as much as 0.6 percent in morning trading, tech stocks in the S&P 500 finished the day down 0.8 percent.

Software company CA Technologies, headquartered in Manhattan and with a large operation in Islandia, had the biggest loss in the S&P 500. Its shares fell $3.55, or 10.2 percent, to $31.10. It began to plunge around noon, following reports that merger talks between it and BMC Software have ended.

Close to half of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported their earnings for the latest quarter, and the results have been mostly encouraging. Not only are profits growing, but so are revenues for many companies. — AP