Wall Street ends mostly flat; Meta's AI-driven surge offsets broad weakness

The major US equity benchmarks ended a volatile session with little net change. The Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq 100 posted modest gains, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Russell 2000 finished in the red. The S&P 500 closed just a fraction below breakeven.

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 51,355.15, down 162.02 points or 0.31%
• S&P 500: 7,704.22, down 1.80 points or 0.02%
• Nasdaq Composite: 26,939.37, up 3.34 points or 0.01%
• Russell 2000: 2,835.58, down 3.08 points or 0.11%
• Nasdaq 100: 30,478.86, up 8.56 points or 0.03%

The slight closing figures mask a more eventful intraday period. The S&P 500 had fallen as much as 43.45 points and the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 229.90 points during the session. Both recovered as buyers emerged near the technical support levels highlighted earlier in the day. This serves as a reminder that an index's daytime levels can be as significant as its closing figure. Sellers had a chance to break through support but were unable to sustain the move.

Meta stood out as a clear winner. Its shares climbed $33.49, or 4.50%, to $777.59, extending a rally driven by excitement over its Muse personal AI assistant. Meta rolled out Muse earlier this month and announced yesterday that it will bring the agent to its AI glasses. These updates have given investors a more concrete product to consider against Meta's substantial spending on artificial intelligence.

For Meta traders, whether the rally can persist after such a steep advance is the key question. The buyers remain in charge as long as the stock holds its recent breakout. Should the price start giving back those gains, traders will look for signs that enthusiasm around Muse is outpacing the short-term price action.

Other notable winners included NBIS, rising 7.44%; Intel, gaining 3.91%; and AMD, adding 2.38%. On the losing side, Arm dropped 7.88%, while Sandisk fell 3.47% and Coherent declined 3.32%. The divergence within the technology sector helps explain the close: strength in Meta and some AI names supported the Nasdaq, but the advance was not widespread.

The outlook for tomorrow is straightforward. The major indices held support today, but the Nasdaq's closing gains were narrow. Buyers need follow-through to demonstrate that today's recovery has staying power.