Decline In Tech Stocks Spoil The Party (INDU, SPX, MSFT, AMZN, COMP, AAPL, DOW, DD)

After the Commerce Department reported a strong round of economic data and companies posted impressive earnings results, US stocks rallied. However, the jump was stopped short by a slump in the technology sector.

Around three hours into the session, the Dow Jones industrial average (NASDAQ: INDU) added 25 points, or 0.2%, and the S&P 500 index (NYSE: SPX) barely registered any gains. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq composite (NASDAQ: COMP) lost six points, or 0.3%. Two tech bellwethers, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), which reported impressive results yesterday, saw conflicting movements. While MSFT has lost 2.98%, AMZN has gained 1.10% since morning. Meanwhile, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) slid 3.16% and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) slipped 3.51%.

So far, 220 companies, or 44% of the S&P 500, have released their results. Earnings and revenues are on track for 206% and 7% year/year growth. However, the financial sector, which reported huge losses last year, accounts for most of the year-over-year growth and is on track to reporting big profits this year.

Stocks also received a boost from a strong GDP report that helped improve investor sentiments for materials companies, which were being hammered for the past several weeks amid concerns of monetary tightening in China. DuPont (NYSE: DD) has gained 2.28% and Dow Chemicals (NYSE: DOW) has climbed 1.57%.