Stocks were little changed Wednesday, a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched a record close, as investors assessed the state of the economic recovery.
The blue-chip index squeezed up 14.07 points from Tuesday's all-time record to 36,813.72
The S&P 500 index dipped 4.05 points to 4,789.49.
The NASDAQ dropped 75.85 points at 15,546.87.
Dow component Salesforce dropped 5.6% and was among the top decliners in the S&P 500, following a downgrade from UBS. UBS also cut Adobe, sending its shares down 4.8%.
Chipmakers and tech stocks remained under pressure after their selloff on Tuesday. DocuSign, Microsoft and Okta fell around 2% each.
Bank of America gave an upgrade to Pfizer, noting that the company's profits from COVID treatments provide upside for the stock. Pfizer's shares moved 2.5% higher.
ADP reported Wednesday that private job growth totaled 807,000 in December, more than double the Dow Jones estimate of 375,000. The data in the report covers only through the middle of December, however, which was before the height of the escalation in COVID cases and concerns.
Investors looking for clues on where the economy stands heading into the New Year also awaited Friday's more closely watched non-farm payrolls count, which is expected to show a gain of 422,000.
They're also awaiting the release Wednesday of minutes from the December Federal Reserve meeting. Policymakers decided then to accelerate the pace of the monthly bond buying taper and indicated that three quarter-percentage-point interest rate hikes are coming in 2022. They also adjusted their outlook on inflation and economic growth.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys eased back, raising yields to 1.66% from Tuesday's 1.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices strengthened $1.12 to $78.11 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices picked up $12.00 to $1,826.60 U.S. an ounce.