How major US stock indexes fared Wednesday

Stocks closed slightly lower Wednesday, ending a five-day winning streak for the benchmark S&P 500 index.

Communications sector stocks, led by steep declines in video game companies, accounted for most of the market’s slide as investors weighed a mixed batch of company earnings. Gains in technology stocks offset some of those losses.

On Wednesday:

The S&P 500 index dropped 6.09 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 2,731.61.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21.22 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 25,390.30.

The Nasdaq composite slid 26.80 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 7,375.28.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gave up 2.20 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 1,518.02.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 25.08 points, or 0.9 per cent.

The Dow is up 326.41 points, or 1.3 per cent.

The Nasdaq is up 111.41 points, or 1.5 per cent.

The Russell 2000 is up 15.97 points, or 1.1 per cent.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 224.76 points, or 9 per cent.

The Dow is up 2,062.84 points, or 8.8 per cent.

The Nasdaq is up 740 points, or 11.2 per cent.

The Russell 2000 is up 169.46 points, or 12.6 per cent.