The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose in volatile trading on Wednesday to hit another record close, boosted by a jump in Verizon and Chevron shares.
The blue-chip index climbed out of its gully and then some, gaining 90.27 points to end Wednesday at another all-time high of 31,613.02,
The S&P 500 came back from its lows of the afternoon, climbing to within 1.26 points of breakeven to 3,931.33, amid a 1% decline in the technology sector
The NASDAQ Composite came off its lows of the day, but still lost 82 points to 13,965.50, as Apple dropped 1.8%.
Dow-member Verizon was among the biggest gainers after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway revealed a sizable stake in the telecom giant. The shares climbed 5.2% after the latest filing showed Berkshire bought more than $8 billion worth of the stock in the fourth quarter, making Verizon one of the conglomerate's top six largest holdings.
Chevron jumped 3% as Berkshire revealed a large stake in the energy company as well last quarter.
The weakness in the broader market came as data showed retail sales surged 5.3% in January, blowing past a Dow Jones estimate of a 1.2% rise. The jump in consumer spending could further fuel inflation expectations, which have already pushed bond yields significantly higher recently.
Signs of a pickup in pricing pressures already emerged as the economy rebounds from the pandemic-induced recession with historic fiscal and monetary stimulus.
The U.S. Labor Department said Wednesday the producer price index, a measure of the prices businesses receive for their goods and services, rose 1.3% in January, the biggest jump since the index began in December 2009.
Elsewhere in the market, bitcoin topped $52,000 U.S. for the first time as its dizzying surge to new record highs continued.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys regained some strength, lowering yields to 1.29% from Tuesday's 1.31%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.18 to $61.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $24.80 to $1,774.20