Intel Stock Rally vs. Freeport-McMoRan Drop

Reduced forecasts for copper and gold sales weighed on a big mining stock, while shares of a semiconductor giant made another push higher after an industry peer offered a bright outlook.

Major U.S. equities indexes lost ground for a second consecutive session Wednesday, reflecting pressure on the tech sector and despite outperformance from energy names. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq lost around 0.3%, while the Dow ended 0.4% lower. Read hear for Investopedia’s comprehensive market coverage.

Intel (INTC) stock jumped 6.4%, lifted by an afternoon report from Bloomberg that the company had discussed Apple (AAPL) buying a stake. The latest move higher for shares of the chipmaking giant also came after micron Technology (MU) raised its outlook for PCs and conventional servers, two of Intel’s key markets.Intel stock has gained more than 25% over the past month amid a string of high-profile investments from the U.S. government, SoftBank (SFTBY), and nvidia (NVDA). Micron’s stock fell nearly 3%, while Apple’s was off less than 1%.

Freeport-McMoran (FCX) stock dropped 4.5% after the company lowered its copper and gold sales forecasts.