NEW YORK — The relief that greeted reports of a possible cease fire in Ukraine faded on Wall Street, as a slide in Apple and other technology stocks tugged the U.S. stock market to a small loss Wednesday.
News that that Russia and Ukraine were close to reaching a cease-fire agreement rippled through markets early, lifting stocks in Europe and pushing up oil prices. In the U.S., the stock market headed higher at the start of trading then sagged in the afternoon.
One reason was Apple, the market’s top heavyweight. The tech giant’s stock slumped $4.36, or 4 percent, to $98.94 after its rival, Samsung, introduced two Galaxy smartphones with displays aimed at quick access to frequently used applications. Analysts expect Apple to unveil iPhones with bigger screens next week.
Shares in other big tech companies, including Amazon and Facebook, also fell than 1 percent or more. Of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500, technology companies lost the most.
The Standard &Poor’s 500 slipped 1.56 points, a fraction of a percent, to end at 2,000.72.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 10.72 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,078.28. The Nasdaq composite, which is dominated by large tech companies, sank 25.62 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,572.57.
Markets have barely moved this week even with news that, in other times, might cause investors to cheer.
Any good news has to be unusually good to push the S&P 500 past 2,000 and further into record territory, said Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners, an investment fund in New York.
“Above 2,000, discretion is the better part of valor,” Landesman said. “Most people are kind of reluctant to jump in right now.”
Another encouraging report on the U.S. economy came out Wednesday. The Commerce Department said that orders for U.S. factory goods shot up 10 percent in July, the biggest one-month jump on records going back to 1992. That followed strong figures for manufacturing activity and construction spending on Tuesday.