Wednesday’s early trade: S&P 500 flirts with record high, ‘meme’ rally rolls on

NEW YORK: Wall Street indexes kept to tight ranges on Wednesday ahead of key inflation data this week, while small-time retail investors bought into several more stocks as a social media-fuelled rally continued.

While the S&P 500 was trading just below record highs, a lack of new catalysts saw it struggling to break above its last high of 4,238.04 points.

A recent rally on Wall Street - driven by strong earnings in May and growing expectations of a 2021 economic recovery - appeared to have paused this week as investors awaited more cues on US monetary policy.

Buying into so-called “meme stocks” by small-time retail investors continued, although they appeared to have pivoted to other stocks such as prison operator GEO Group, which surged 41.2%, and World Wrestling Entertainment, up 13.9%.

GameStop - the company most closely associated with the retail rally this year - rose 3.0% ahead of its quarterly results, due after the bell, while Clover Health reversed course to trade lower.

At 11:55 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 25.07 points, or 0.07%, at 34,574.75 and the S&P 500 was up 1.14 points, or 0.03%, at 4,228.40. The Nasdaq Composite was up 10.38 points, or 0.07%, at 13,935.29.