The Dow and the S&P 500 remain on track to end a five-day streak or record highs.
Granted, the benchmark U.S. stock indices have pared earlier losses, with the Nasdaq returning to green territory, rising 7.56 points, or 0.16% to 4,668.05.
But the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained in the red, slipping 10.2 points, or 0.06% to 17,603.47. The S&P 500 lost 2.16 points, or 0.11% to 2,037.82.
As the Wall Street Journal reports:
Wednesday was a slow day for U.S. economic news, and without major reports to give the market direction, strategists said investors were pausing to re-evaluate after the latest rally to all-time highs. Stocks have recently recovered from a sharp pullback in mid-September and early October. For the year, the Dow has hit 24 closing records and the S&P has closed at 40 highs… Individual-stock news took more of the spotlight than economic factors, traders said. Consumer discretionary stocks rose 0.3%, supported by gains in retailers and home builders amid an ongoing raft of earnings reports.
European shares fell Wednesday amid worries about the outlook for economic growth in the region. Also, the BofE cut its forecasts for growth and inflation and signaled an interest-rate increase is unlikely before the second half of 2015.
Meanwhile, financial stocks took a hit, as six banks— HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBC), Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS), UBS AG (UBS), Citigroup (C), J.P. Morgan Chase Co. (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC) —reached a settlement to resolve allegations that they had worked together to try to manipulate the foreign-exchange market to boost their profits.
For more on that, read this post by my colleague Chris Dieterich on the Focus on Funds blog.
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