Wall Street Snaps Four-Day Winning Streak

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U.S. equity markets fell for the first day in five as traders took a breather and parsed through fiscal and corporate news.

Today's Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 30.8 points, or 0.19%, to 15963, the S&P 500 slipped 0.49 point, or 0.03%, to 1819 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 10.3 points, or 0.24%, to 4201.

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. However, that run was halted on Wednesday.

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 were 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.