Tech and communications companies gain as stocks wobble on Wall Street

Stocks wobbled on the New York Stock Exchange (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Stocks faded in the last hour of trading and ended mostly lower on 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.