Stocks Wobble After Four-Day Run

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U.S. equity markets flip-flopped Wednesday as traders reassessed positions after Wall Street's biggest four-day rally since January 2013.

Today's Markets

As of 12:30 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 35 points, or 0.22%, to 15959, the S&P 500 rose 0.18 point, or 0.01%, to 1819 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 9.3 points, or 0.22%, to 4200.

The S&P 500 tacked on its fourth-straight daily advance Tuesday, rising 3.9% over the period. It was the biggest four-day percent gain for the broad-market barometer since January 2013.

The move came amid signs Congress will pass a "clean" debt limit increase without the usual battle royal between Democrats and Republicans. At the same time, newly-minted Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen said she will continue cutting back on the central bank's stimulus programs in a measured way.

There are no major reports on the economic docket Wednesday. However, a key measure of retail sales from the Commerce Department is out on Thursday.

On the corporate front, Deere (NYSE:DE) revealed better-than-expected quarterly profits, sending shares of the farm-equipment maker climbing. Home Depot (NYSE:HD) said it would hire 80,000 people as part of its spring push. Earnings from networking giant Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) are due out after the closing bell.

In commodities, U.S. crude oil futures climbed 78 cents, or 0.78%, to $100.72 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline rose 0.82%, to $2.775 a gallon. Gold edged up by 50 cents, or 0.04%, to $1,290 a troy ounce.