Wall Street ends mixed on tech woes after marking record highs

US stock indices closed mixed today after erasing most of the earlier gains, as Dow Jones, Standard and Poor's 500, and NASDAQ Composite marked fresh record highs on Wall Street before the last two were dragged lower by the flailing tech sector. 

Dow Jones held on and closed at record highs, buoyed by upbeat Verizon earnings, while NASDAQ and S&P 500 were weighed down by Twitter, which sank 14%, and Amazon, slumping 3%, while Facebook curbed tech's losses after reporting stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings results. 

Earlier US data showed durable goods orders rose above expectations in June, as core orders, excluding transportation, slowed down unexpectedly. 

Similarly, the US goods trade deficit shrank more than expected, as wholesale inventories rose sharply in May past forecasts, and finally, unemployment claims rose more than expected last week. 

Dow Jones rose 0.39%, or 85.54 points to 21,796.55, while S&P 500 shed 0.10%, or 2.41 points to 2,475.42, as NASDAQ Composite tumbled 0.63%, or 40.56 points to 6,382.19.

Gold futures due on December 16 rose 0.68% to $1,264.20 an ounce from the opening of $1,255.60, while the dollar index rose 0.28% to 93.94 from the opening of 93.67. 

Otherwise, US crude futures due on September 15 advanced 0.78% to $49.13 a barrel from the opening of $48.75, while Brent crude futures due on September 15 jumped 1.24% to $51.60 a barrel from the opening of $50.97.