Stocks wavered on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday, as gains in tech companies and retailers helped temper losses elsewhere in the market.
The S&P 500 was up less than 0.1% after drifting between small gains and losses. The benchmark index is coming off a three-day winning streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 10 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 3:20 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%.
Trading volume was lighter than usual as U.S. markets reopened after the Christmas holiday.
Chip company Broadcom rose 2.5%, Micron Technology was up 1.3% and Adobe gained 0.8%.
While tech stocks overall were in the green, some heavyweights were a drag on the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, slipped 0.1%. Meta Platforms fell 0.5%, Amazon was down 0.4%, and Netflix gave up 0.7%.
Tesla was among the biggest decliners in the S&P 500, down 1.4%.
Health care stocks helped lift the market. CVS Health rose 1.4% and Walgreens Boots Alliance rose 3.9% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks.
Several retailers also gained ground. Target rose 3.1%, Ross Stores added 1.8%, Best Buy was up 2.5% and Dollar Tree gained 3.6%.
Traders are watching to see whether retailers have a strong holiday season. The day after Christmas traditionally ranks among the top 10 biggest shopping days of the year, as consumers go online or rush to stores to cash in gift cards and raid bargain bins.
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