Index Dips After Briefly Crossing 5,500

Major U.S. equities were mixed on Thursday as investors drew back from Nvidia (NVDA) and several other chipmakers to send the tech sector lower

After briefly crossing the 5,500 level for the first time, the S&P 500 moved lower by 0.3% to step back from its record high. Nasdaq dropped lower by 0.8% on the tech turndown, while the Dow jumped 0.8%.

Shares of Gilead Sciences (GILD) soared 8.5% after the company announced that tests of its HIV prevention drug proved 100% effective in women in trials. The results were so successful that an independent monitoring committee recommended expanding testing of the drug called “lenacapavir.” More trials are needed before it can apply for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, including testing on men. 

Consulting firm Accenture (ACN) stock was 7.3% higher after it reported a jump in bookings related to its artificial intelligence (AI) products. Accenture beat its profit expectations despite its revenue declining from its year-ago levels.

Electronic equipment supplier Jabil (JBL) moved lower by more than 11.4% after company executives discussed softness in several of its markets during a call on its quarterly results. Jabil gets nearly a fifth of its revenue from Apple (AAPL), so its results can give investors an indicator of the iPhone maker’s performance. 

Several chipmakers declined amid a pullback in the tech sector,  including a decline of more than 3% by Nvidia.

Qualcomm (QCOM), Micron Technology (MU), Microchip Technology (MCHP) and Western Digital Corp (WDC) each dropped around 5%, while ON Semiconductor (ON) and Broadcom (AVGO) moved lower by about 4%. 

While other tech firms struggled, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) jumped by more than 4% after Piper Sandler analysts moved the company to “top pick” status on the strength of its AI chip strategy.