05:07 PM EST, 11/12/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes closed mixed on Wednesday, as Magnificent-7 stocks weighed on the Nasdaq Composite while the Dow Jones Industrial Average scaled a new peak amid expectations of a House vote later in the day to end the longest-ever federal government shutdown.

The Nasdaq fell 0.3% to 23,406.46. The S&P 500 edged higher by less than 0.1% to 6,850.92, clawing back intraday declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.7% to 48,254.82, after touching an all-time high of 48,431.57 earlier in the session.

Healthcare, financials, and materials led gainers, while communication services, energy, and consumer discretionary were the steepest decliners on Wednesday. For the week, technology and consumer cyclicals sat at the bottom of sector charts, while basic materials, healthcare, and energy perched at the top, implying a sector rotation out of the so-called artificial intelligence (AI) trade could be in play amid valuation concerns.

Among the five declining Mag-7 stocks at the close, the worst performer was Meta Platforms ( META ) , down 2.9%, giving up a bulk of this year's gains in the aftermath of its plan to raise the lower end of its full-year 2025 capital expenditure outlook by $4 billion to $70 billion-$72 billion. Next year, the firm expects capex growth to be "notably larger" amid higher AI-related expenses.

Palantir ( PLTR ) , the poster child for the AI-trade, was down 3.6%, the biggest laggard among stocks with a market capitalization of more than $200 billion. The company has fallen out of favor after its Q3 beat-and-raise on Nov. 3 failed to justify its lofty 85 times price-to-sales ratio and a forward price-to-earnings ratio approaching 240 times.

The most telling indicator of this sentiment shift comes from short interest figures across major technology sub-sectors, S&P Global said in a Tuesday research note analysing the sell-off in technology last week. The companies in the North America Semiconductors and Semiconductor Equipment category now face a short interest of 0.285%, the highest level seen this year.

"These figures represent a significant move against the tech sector by institutional investors and hedge funds, who appear increasingly convinced that a correction is warranted after months of AI-fuelled enthusiasm drove valuations to ever higher levels," the S&P note said.

Meanwhile, the chamber is set to vote Wednesday evening on the Senate-backed bill to reopen the federal government, with the White House noting President Donald Trump is ready to sign it, CNN reported. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he's "very optimistic" about the vote tally tonight, the news report added.

Investors cheered a possible end to the longest US government shutdown and "upbeat" earnings outlook from Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) , according to a note from D.A. Davidson.

AMD shares jumped 9%, the top gainer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, after the chipmaker set long-term financial targets, including robust revenue and earnings growth.

"The bulls have several potential drivers for fourth quarter upside, including bullish seasonality, performance chasing, and potentially another Fed cut in December," said Nathan Peterson, director of derivatives research and strategy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.

According to the CME Fedwatch Tool, the probability of a 25-basis-point cut in interest rates next month stood at more than 65% late Wednesday, compared with almost 35% for policymakers to leave the target range unchanged at 3.75% to 4%.

Most US Treasury yields fell, with the 10-year yield down 4.5 basis points to 4.07% and the two-year rate lower by 2.5 basis points to 3.57%.

Gold futures jumped 2.1% to $4,203.72 per ounce, and Silver futures surged 5.1% to $53.31.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures sank 4.3% to $58.39 a barrel.

The International Energy Agency reported that a quintet of producers in the Americas -- the US, Canada, Guyana, Brazil, and Argentina -- will drive elevated supply, according to the IEA's World Energy Outlook for 2025.