Stocks faded in the last hour of trading and ended mostly lower Wednesday, a day after the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average set their latest record highs.

Several big technology companies posted solid gains, led by Microsoft, which reported a 24% surge in profits last quarter as its cloud computing business bounded ahead.

The S&P 500 gave up 0.5% after shedding an early gain and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.7%.

The Nasdaq ended little changed.

Encouraging earnings helped lift several companies, including McDonald's.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.53%. Oil prices fell.