U.S. stocks drifted through a quiet day of trading as Wall Street's momentum slowed following its big recent rally.
The S&P 500 was essentially flat Wednesday and is within 2.8% of its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%.
The action was stronger in the bond market, where Treasury yields tumbled following a pair of weaker-than-expected reports on the economy. The reports on the job market and output by U.S. services businesses raised expectations for coming cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve. Stock indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.
On Wednesday:
The S&P 500 rose 0.44 points, or less than 0.1%, to 5,970.81.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 91.90 points, or 0.2%, to 42,427.74.
The Nasdaq composite rose 61.53 points, or 0.3%, to 19,460.49.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 4.50 points, or 0.2%, to 2,098.48.