Feb. 18 (UPI) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new record high on Wednesday while tech stocks dragged the other major U.S. indexes down.
The blue-chip index climbed 91.52 points, or 0.29%, to close at a new high of 31,614.27 after erasing a 180-point loss from earlier in the day. The S&P 500 ended the day down 0.032% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.58%.
Verizon stock and Chevron stock helped to lead the Dow higher, gaining 5.19% and 3% respectively, after filings showed that Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway had large stakes in both companies.
The S&P’s technology sector fell 1% to contribute to the index’s drop and the Nasdaq was hampered by Apple falling 1.76%.
Losses were mitigated after the Federal Reserve indicated it would remain committed to “using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy” amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to minutes from its Wednesday meeting.
“Participants noted that economic conditions were currently far from the Committee’s longer-run goals and that the stance for policy would need to remain accommodative until those goals were achieved,” the minutes stated.
Markets also reacted to a Commerce Department report that retail sales grew 5.3% nationwide during the month of January.
The 10-year Treasury Yield reached as high as 1.3% early Wednesday just ahead of the sales data but quickly dropped to end the day flat.
