US equity indexes traded mixed after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite scaled new peaks in midday trading on Thursday as gains in megacaps-laden technology helped soften a broad-based retreat across sectors.
The S&P 500, which hit a record 6,731.94 earlier in the session, slipped less than 0.1% to 6,705.1. The Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.2% to 22,801.5, after touching a fresh all-time high of 22,900.60 intraday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed at 46,438.1.
All sectors except materials and technology fell intraday, with energy and consumer staples leading the decliners.
The top five gainers in a category of stocks with a market capitalization of more than $200 billion, or mega-caps, included Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), ASML Holdings (ASML), Broadcom (AVGO), and Nvidia (NVDA).
In economic news, US employers announced plans to cut 54,064 jobs in September, down from 85,979 in August and below year-ago levels, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement firm, on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the weekly jobless claims bulletin, originally scheduled for an 8:30 am ET release, wasn't reported as the partial shutdown of the federal government entered its second day.
The US Senate is out for the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur on Thursday, meaning the government will remain partially shut down at least until Friday, CNN reported. Neither Republicans nor Democrats are blinking, and a GOP leadership aide said the Senate is "trending" toward not holding votes this weekend, so the standoff could last for much longer, the news report added.
Treasury yields were mixed, with the two-year little changed at 3.55% while the 10-year rate fell 2.1 basis points to 4.09%.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures dropped 1.9% to $60.61 a barrel.
In company news, BlackRock-owned (BLK) Global Infrastructure Partners is close to acquiring utility group AES (AES) in a roughly $38 billion deal, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing people briefed on the matter. AES shares declined 4.2%.
Citigroup downgraded shares of Corteva (CTVA) to neutral from buy while adjusting its price target to $67 from $83. Jefferies lowered its price objective to $85 from $92. Shares of Corteva added 2.9% intraday.
Gold futures fell 0.7% to $3,869.20, and silver dropped 2.9% to $46.30.