United States benchmark averages equities finished mixed on Thursday (Friday AEDT), with investors rotating out of high-growth technology stocks and into cyclical names following a Federal Reserve rate cut and lacklustre quarterly results from Oracle.
The shift in sentiment helped propel the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a fresh record high.
The Dow advanced 646.2 points or 1.3% to finish at 48,704.0, while the S&P 500 added 14.3 points or 0.2%, also closing at a record high of 6,901.0. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 60.3 points or 0.3% to 23,593.9 as tech names came under renewed pressure.
Oracle shares tumbled 10.8% after the cloud computing company posted weaker-than-expected revenue and signalled higher spending ahead, intensifying concerns about its debt load.
The update deepened debate over how quickly major technology companies will see returns on their artificial intelligence investments.
Other AI-linked stocks also fell, with Nvidia down 1.5% and Broadcom falling 1.6% ahead of its quarterly earnings results released after the closing bell.
Meanwhile, Walt Disney gained 2.4% after announcing a US$1 billion equity investment in OpenAI.
The downturn in tech cooled momentum from the previous session, when the S&P 500 closed just shy of a new record after the Fed delivered its third interest rate cut of the year.
The central bank lowered its key overnight borrowing rate to a range of 3.5%–3.75%.
Smaller companies continued to outperform as they stand to benefit more directly from lower borrowing costs. The Russell 2000 index of small-capitalisation stocks lifted 1.2% to a fresh record high alongside the Dow.
Fresh labour market data showed jobless claims rising to 236,000 for the week ending 6 December, exceeding expectations of 220,000.
On the bond markets, yields moved lower. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 0.3% to 4.143%, while the 2-year yield declined 0.5% to 3.526%.
