U.S. stocks hovered near the flat line on Wednesday after the market staged a big midday reversal on Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrials nosed up 16.73 points to 30, 984.55.
The S&P 500 eked ahead 0.32 points to 3,831.71.
The NASDAQ Composite faded 14.57 points to 11,307.60.
Investors appeared to be drifting back into defensive stocks on Wednesday, with utility company Constellation and pharmaceutical giant Merck among the top performers in the S&P 500. Shares of Walmart rose 1.4%.
Oil prices tumbled below $100 a barrel Tuesday, further reflecting a potential economic slowdown, and slipped further on Wednesday.
Shares of Chevron and Exxon dropped more than 1% on Wednesday, extending declines from the previous session.
There are no major earnings reports scheduled for Wednesday, but there will be a slew of economic reports coming out, including the minutes of the Federal Reserve's June meeting in the afternoon.
Treasury prices dropped, bringing yields up to 2.86% from Tuesday's 2.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped $2.60 to $96.90 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $11.10 to $1,752.80 U.S. an ounce.