So the Dow had another wild ride today, up over 100 points in mid-morning trading only to crash in the afternoon to lose all gains plus ten.  Disney is said to be the culprit this time with its announcement of losses from its cable TV division leading to its largest daily drop since 2008.  Disney's 9.2% loss caused a ripple effect to all the other major cable operators ranging from a nearly 5% loss in Comcast to over 12% at Discovery Channel.  Since Disney is so huge (it's sort of the Apple of the media biz), it was more than enough to overcome the day's considerable other good news, namely that all the much better than expected Q2 reports are finally being reflected in boosts to stock prices.  Since July 1st, the profit expectations in the tech sector have more than doubled from a middling 2.1% to 5.3% now, thus creating a sector rotation into technology.  A surge in the service industries to a nearly ten year high might also be taken as good news except that investors took it more that the Fed may raise interest rates sooner after all.  Volume was modestly above this past week's more robust than usual averages at 7.2 billion.

Wed Aug 5, 2015 7:33pm EDT

Tech leads Nasdaq, S&P 500; Disney sparks media selloff

BY RODRIGO CAMPOS

DJ:    17,540.47  -10.22       NAS:      5,139.95  +34.40       S&P:      2,099.84  +6.52

(Reuters)  The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose on Wednesday following three days of losses as tech shares advanced, while the blue-chip Dow index ticked lower, weighed by Disney's largest daily drop in almost seven years.

Gains in major tech companies Google and Facebook led the advance on the Nasdaq. Apple added 0.7 percent to $115.40, up for just the second session in the last 12. The S&P 500 tech sector gained 1 percent, its best daily performance in three weeks.

"There's been a sector rotation into technology because of the improvement in their earnings expectations," said Chad Morganlander, portfolio manager at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co in Florham Park, New Jersey.

Earnings in the technology sector of the S&P 500 are expected to have grown 5.3 percent in the second quarter, up from a 2.1 percent increase expected back on July 1, according to the most recent Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data.

The market's advance is, however, "a modest bounce back after discernable pressure over the last trading sessions," Morganlander said. He cited deceleration in the Chinese economy as a continuing headwind for stocks, specifically commodities-related sectors.

Disney's shares fell to $110.53, a 9.2 percent drop and the largest for any day since Dec. 1, 2008, after it cut its profit forecast for its cable networks unit, spooking the entire industry.

Shares of Comcast fell 4.7 percent, Discovery Communications lost 12.1 percent and Twenty-First Century Fox fell 7 percent. Disney's shares are still up 17.3 percent year to date, compared with a gain of 2 percent on the S&P 500.

"Disney has had such a tremendous move in the past months that a setback within the stock price should not be a surprise," said Morganlander.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 10.22 points, or 0.06 percent, to 17,540.47; the S&P 500 gained 6.52 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,099.84; and the Nasdaq Composite added 34.40 points, or 0.67 percent, to 5,139.95.

Despite the gains on the S&P 500, declining issues slightly outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1,542 to 1,518. On the Nasdaq, however, 1,606 issues rose and 1,203 fell.

U.S. private job growth slowed in July, but a surge in services industry activity to a near-decade high suggested solid economic momentum that strengthens the case for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike this year. Friday's payrolls report is key for traders who are trying to anticipate the Fed's next move.

First Solar shares jumped 16.7 percent to $51.92 a day after it reported sharply higher quarterly sales and earnings and said results for the year would top Wall Street estimates.

Shares of Chesapeake Energy tumbled 12.1 percent to $7.03 on worries about hefty debt and spending at the No. 2 U.S. natural gas producer.

The benchmark S&P 500 index posted 54 new 52-week highs and 31 new lows; the NasdaqComposite recorded 135 new highs and 107 new lows.

About 7.2 billion shares changed hands on all U.S. exchanges, compared with an average 6.78 billion in the past five sessions, according to BATS Global Markets data.