WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Wednesday but managed to end the day modestly higher. The Dow led the way higher, reaching a new record closing high along with the Nasdaq and S&P 500.
The major averages all ended the day in positive territory. The Dow climbed 182.60 points or 0.4 percent to 60,644.28, the Nasdaq inched up 18.55 points or 0.1 percent to 26,674.73 and the S&P 500 crept up 1.24 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 7,520.36.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent strength.
Traders may also have been waiting for further developments with a regard to a potential U.S.-Iran peace deal, although confidence remains high that an agreement will be reached soon.
Optimism about an eventual end to the conflict between the U.S. and Iran continues weigh on oil prices, with U.S. crude oil futures plunging by more than 5 percent.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, President Donald Trump stated that Iran wants to make a deal but said the U.S. is not satisfied with their offers and asserted that the Strait of Hormuz should be open for everybody.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said the U.S. will give the diplomatic route 'every chance to succeed' but reiterated that Trump has other options.
Oil prices remained sharply lower even after the White House denied a report Iranian state TV ?had obtained a draft of an initial, unofficial framework for a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran.
Under the framework, Iran would restore commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to ?pre-war levels within a month, according to the report from Reuters.
Traders may also have been somewhat reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of key U.S. economic data on Thursday, including the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.
Sector News
Despite the lackluster performance by the broader markets, airline stocks extended the substantial upward move seen over the past several sessions, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index surging by 2 percent.
Considerable strength was also visible among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index.
Computer hardware, housing and retail stocks also saw notable strength, while oil service stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of crude oil, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 3.3 percent.
A steep drop by the price of gold also weighed on gold stocks, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plunging by 3.3 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index closed slightly higher and South Korea's Kospi surged by 2.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1.3 percent.
The major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the German DAX Index closed just below the unchanged line, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries gave back ground after an early advance but remained modestly higher. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by 1.2 basis points to 4.481 percent.
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