The stock market edged higher in the morning but gave up the gains by midday.
At last check the S&P 500 lost 0.27% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged 0.08% lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.33%. However, the Russell 2000 Index rose 1.25%.
August retail sales exceeded expectations, rising 0.1% despite fears of an economic slowdown, better than the 0.2% decline forecast.
Microsoft’s July earnings report missed analysts’ estimates of cloud revenue.
S&P 500 big stock movers today
Five S&P 500 stocks making big midday moves are:
Moderna (MRNA) +6.2% Enphase Energy (ENPH) +5.6% Intel (INTC) +5.4% Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) +5.2% Synchrony Financial (SYF) +4.7%
The worst-performing five S&P 500 stocks with the largest midday drop are:
Accenture (ACN) -4.4% Philip Morris International (PM) -2.6% Epam Systems (EPAM) -2.5% Palo Alto Networks (PANW) -2.4% Walmart (WMT) -2.3%
Stocks also worth noting include:
Microsoft (MSFT) +0.6%Dell (DELL) +0.7%Amazon (AMZN) +1.2%Nvidia (NVDA) -0.4%Apple (AAPL) -0.2%
Microsoft gains on buyback, dividend increase
Microsoft stock added 0.6% after it announced plans to increase the quarterly dividend 10% to 83 cents a share, up from 75 cents.
The new dividend is payable Dec. 12 to holders of record Nov. 21. The annual meeting is set for Dec. 10. The software and cloud-services giant also approved a new $60 billion share repurchase program.
The decision followed Microsoft’s announcement in July to boost its investment in artificial intelligence. Microsoft’s July earnings report missed analysts’ estimates for cloud revenue. The segment makes up nearly all Microsoft’s capital expenditures.
Related: Analyst revisits Microsoft stock price target after AI reporting change
Dell rises on analyst update
Dell stock added 0.7% after Mizuho Securities initiated coverage of the stalwart provider of computer hardware and peripherals with an outperform rating and a $135 price target.
The investment firm said Dell was a market leader with a robust supply chain and was gaining share in artificial intelligence servers.
The analyst, Vijay Rakesh, says generative artificial intelligence “is igniting growth and disruption” across multiple markets, including AI servers, which comprise the infrastructure enabling the AI revolution, according to thefly.com.
Related: Analysts revise Dell stock price target ahead of earnings
The analyst also compared Dell to Supermicro (SMCI), noting that Supermicro is experiencing share loss, margin pressure, negative free cash flow, and weak internal controls. The firm argues Dell is better positioned due to its broader portfolio and stronger balance sheet.
Intel rallies on foundry spinoff plan
Intel stock popped 5% after the chip maker announced plans to separate its foundry business into an independent unit with its own board and the ability to raise outside capital.
Intel is considering spinning off its foundry business, potentially into a separate publicly traded entity, according to a source who spoke to CNBC.
More Tech Stocks:
Palantir stock leaps on big S&P 500 boost for data analytics groupAnalyst revises Amazon stock price target on advertising estimatesAnalyst says Intel should drop a key business to survive
“It provides our external foundry customers and suppliers with clearer separation and independence from the rest of Intel,” CEO Pat Gelsinger said in a statement Monday about the new subsidiary structure.
Industry observers had said that potential customers for Intel’s services were nervous about turning over their intellectual property to a manufacturer that was also a rival, according to MarketWatch columnist Therese Poletti.
Related: Veteran fund manager sees world of pain coming for stocks
