U.S. Stocks Little Changed as Volumes Remain Muted

U.S. stocks little changed

-- Trading volumes remain muted

-- Falling government bond yields boost real estate, utilities stocks

The Dow Jones Industrial Average swung between small gains and losses Wednesday, with volumes muted in the quiet period between Christmas and New Year's Day.

The Dow industrials inched down 6 points, or less than 0.1%, to 24740 shortly after the opening bell. The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.2%. All three indexes had fallen in two straight sessions entering Wednesday.

Real estate and utilities shares advanced as government bond yields fell for a second consecutive day. Those sectors, known as bond proxies because they tend to pay hefty dividends, had sold off in recent sessions as yields had climbed.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.450%, according to Tradeweb, from 2.467% on Tuesday. Yields fall as prices rise. The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of 16 others, was down 0.2%.

Corporate news also drove some of the day's larger moves.

Shares of General Electric advanced 0.7% following the industrial conglomerate's announcement that it is increasing its ownership in Sweden's Arcam, which develops electron-beam melting machines for manufacturing and produces advanced metal powders.

Tesla shares fell 0.7% after KeyBanc Capital Markets analysts said in a note to clients that they expect fewer Model 3 deliveries for the current quarter than previously anticipated, based on conversations with Tesla salespeople across the U.S. On Tuesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased details for a pickup truck that would challenge Ford Motor and others, though he was vague about his intentions.

Boeing shares fell less than 0.1% after Morocco's Royal Air Maroc said it ordered four 787-9 Dreamliners from the aerospace giant valued at $1.1 billion at list prices.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 edged down less than 0.1% in afternoon trading as regional markets reopened from a holiday. Losses among technology firms offset gains in the oil-and-gas and basic resources sectors. Oil and copper have hit fresh multiyear highs recently, boosted by supply disruptions.

Technology stocks also fell in Asia, a day after shares of Apple and some of its suppliers dragged down major U.S. indexes in a fall analysts attributed to reports that the company is considering cutting its first-quarter sales forecast for its iPhone X. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.9%, while South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.4%.

Amrith Ramkumar contributed to this article.

Write to Kenan Machado at kenan.machado@wsj.com and Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 27, 2017 10:31 ET (15:31 GMT)