Though the S&P ended not far from where it began the day, the Nasdaq had a losing session, in large part due to Alphabet (GOOGL) as the parent of Google saw its shares fall following its report of lower than expected revenue in the first quarter. Another tech titan, Apple (AAPL), is due to report after the close and it may similarly set the Nasdaq's direction for tomorrow.

ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the Case Shiller 20-City home price index bounced 0.20% to 212.7 in February. The Chicago PMI dropped another 6.1 points to 52.6 in April, missing forecasts for a bounce. The pending home sales index rebounded 3.8% to 105.8 in March. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index rose 5 points to 129.2 in April, beating estimates.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump in a tweet called for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. "We have the potential to go... ....up like a rocket if we did some lowering of rates, like one point, and some quantitative easing," the president tweeted. "Yes, we are doing very well at 3.2% GDP, but with our wonderfully low inflation, we could be setting major records &, at the same time, make our National Debt start to look small!" Additionally, the Wall Street Journal reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that Trump agreed to aim for a $2T infrastructure package in a White House meeting today.

In China, the official manufacturing PMI dipped down to 50.1 versus the consensus forecast of 50.5. China's official non-manufacturing PMI came in at 54.3, below the consensus estimate of 54.9. The unofficial Caixin manufacturing PMI also came in below expectations at 50.2.

In Europe, the Eurozone advance GDP reading for Q1 was a bit stronger than expected, up 0.4% quarter-over-quarter and up 1.2% year-over-year.

TOP NEWS: Shares of Alphabet (GOOGL) slid 7.5% after the company reported better than expected first quarter earnings per share, but with revenue growth that missed consensus expectations.

While the Nasdaq was hurt by Alphabet's slide, the Dow fared better, in large part due to post-earnings advances from Merck (MRK), which gained 2.5%, and Pfizer (PFE), which also rose 2.5%. McDonald's (MCD), another member of the bluechip index, closed fractionally higher after reporting strong same store sales growth.

Some other notable big-cap stocks that moved after earnings include General Electric (GE), which rose 4.6%, and General Motors (GM), which fell 2.6%.

In M&A news, Occidental Petroleum (OXY) announced that Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) has committed to invest a total of $10B in Occidental, contingent upon Occidental entering into and completing its proposed acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum (APC). The entry of Warren Buffett's Berkshire could tip the scales in the ongoing fight for Anadarko being waged between suitors Occidental and Chevron (CVX). Also, HealthEquity (HQY) confirmed that it has made a proposal to acquire WageWorks (WAGE) for $50.50 per share in cash. WageWorks said it will continue to carefully review the proposal.

Meanwhile, Altria Group (MO) announced that the Food and Drug Administration authorized sale of the IQOS heated tobacco system in the U.S. market. FDA authorization follows review of the Premarket Tobacco Product Applications, or PMTA, submitted by Philip Morris International (PM). Following the news, Altria shares rose 1.5% while Philip Morris shares were almost 2% higher.

MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was G1 Therapeutics (GTHX), which rose 15.3% after announcing plans to request a pre-NDA meeting for Trilaciclib. Also higher were Impinj (PI) and Seagate (STX), which gained a respective 1.4% and 7.5% after reporting quarterly results.

Among the notable losers was PetIQ (PETQ), which slid 9.8% after Spruce Point issued a short report on the stock, calling for up to 90% downside. Also lower were Diebold Nixdorf (DBD) and Sabre (SABR), which fell 18.8% and 9.2%, respectively, after reporting quarterly results.

INDEXES: The Dow rose 38.52, or 0.15%, to 26,592.91, the Nasdaq lost 66.47, or 0.81%, to 8,095.39, and the S&P 500 advanced 2.80, or 0.09%, to 2,945.83.