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Nasdaq, S&P 500 End Higher; Boeing, Disney Trip Up Dow

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 pulled off positive finishes Wednesday, but the Dow ended lower as Boeing and Walt Disney fell hard. (Michael Gordon/Shutterstock) stock-SMT2-NYSEexterior-shutter New York, NY: August 27, 2016: People walking by an American-flag draped New York Stock Exchange. The NYSE is the world's largest stock exchange. Focus is on the George Washington statue.

The Nasdaq and S&P defended narrow gains into Wednesday's close, aided by earnings results and rising oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 0.2%, weighed by Walt Disney (DIS) and Boeing's (BA) sharp losses.

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 each squeezed out gains of 0.1%. Small caps had a positive session, with the Russell 2000 marking off a 0.6% advance.

The two biggest moves among S&P 500 stocks were earnings-related: Nvidia (NVDA) and Electronic Arts (EA).  Six of the next 10 largest moves were oil-related stocks, with Chesapeake Energy (CHK), Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) and Newfield Exploration (NFX) leading that charge.

Chevron (CVX) led the Dow with a 1.4% gain. Caterpillar (CAT) rose more than 1%. But that wasn't enough to counter the downdraft from the declines of Boeing, down 1.3%, and Disney, which dropped 2.2% after reporting disappointing fiscal second-quarter results late Tuesday.

Boeing fell after announcing it would ground test flights of its 737 Max aircraft to check for a possible engine component defect. The aircraft have not yet been delivered to airlines, with the first deliveries scheduled for this month.

Other heavyweights dragging on Wednesday's market action included Priceline Group (PLCN), down 4.5% on mixed first-quarter results. The heavy-volume decline found support at the stock's 10-week moving average.

Oil groups ended the day with three of the five largest gains among industries after crude oil prices rebounded more than 3%. Data showed an unexpected drop in weekly stockpiles.  The computer gaming group outpaced even the oil groups, as Electronic Arts surged 13% after trouncing analyst expectations in its fiscal fourth-quarter report.  Shares were already extended above a flat base buy point of 91.91.

The fabless chipmakers group scored high, riding Nvidia's 18% gain. Processors for cloud computing data centers helped drive the chip innovator's first quarter revenue up 48% and earnings to an 85% advance, both well above analyst expectations. The move sent the IBD 50 stock to just below a 121.02 buy point in a late-stage base.

Laser maker Coherent (COHR) soared 14% on healthy earnings results reported late Tuesday.  Coherent entered the session extended from a rebound off support at its 10-week moving average in April.

After the close, Snap (SNAP) toppled 24% after reporting a wider-than-anticipated $2.2 billion loss. Revenue rose 286%, much better than analyst estimates. Daily active users grew 36% to 166 million, in line with expectations. Snapchat shares ended Wednesday's session 35% above their March IPO price of 17 a share.

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