Tech Dragged Nasdaq Lower as Earnings Roll In, but S&P 500 Still on Track for Huge Monthly Gain

The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Reuters, Bloomberg, and CNBC contributed to this report.

Wall Street ended Thursday in mixed fashion, with tech stocks doing most of the dragging while broader markets mostly held their ground. The Nasdaq slipped as big-name earnings disappointed, even as the S&P 500 stayed nearly flat and the Dow pushed higher.

The S&P 500 ticked up just 0.1%, keeping its head above water after a choppy session. The Nasdaq dropped 0.6%, hit by weakness in heavyweight tech names. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, climbed 414 points, or 0.8%, helped by strong corporate results in industrials.

Even with the uneven finish, April has been anything but quiet. It’s actually shaping up to be a standout month. The S&P 500 is up more than 9% so far, on track for its strongest monthly performance since November 2020. The Nasdaq is doing even better, up about 13% and heading for its best month since April 2020. The Dow is also set to close April with gains of more than 6%, its strongest run since late 2024.

But Thursday’s session wasn’t just about earnings. A softer-than-expected first-quarter GDP reading added a layer of caution, while lingering geopolitical tension involving Iran kept oil prices elevated even as they pulled back slightly on the day.

Oil markets had been climbing earlier in the week, but eased Thursday. Brent crude slipped around 2% while still holding above $114 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate dipped about 0.5%, staying above $106. The earlier spike came as tensions flared between the US and Iran, with reports suggesting discussions inside the White House about a more aggressive pressure campaign on Tehran.

Back in equities, earnings created a split-screen effect.

Caterpillar stood out, jumping roughly 9% after beating expectations, giving the Dow a solid lift.

Tech told a different story. Meta Platforms dropped about 9% after investors reacted badly to higher capital spending forecasts and softer user growth. Microsoft also slid around 5%, weighed down by concerns over rising infrastructure costs, including a sharp increase in planned spending tied to memory and AI-related demand.

The market backdrop remains complicated by central bank expectations as well. The Federal Reserve held rates steady in the 3.5% to 3.75% range at its latest meeting, a widely expected move – but the vote itself raised eyebrows. Four officials dissented, the most disagreement seen in decades.

That split reinforced the idea that rate cuts may not be coming anytime soon.

“The Fed held rates unchanged and we expect that to continue for the rest of this year,” said Sonu Varghese of Carson Group.

He noted that inflation concerns are still keeping policymakers cautious, and internal disagreement is making it harder for a clear pivot toward cuts to emerge.

All of this leaves markets in an unusual position: strong momentum in equities, especially tech, but with macro signals – growth, inflation, geopolitics, and policy – all pulling in different directions.