US stocks slipped in choppy trading on Wednesday as technology and energy stocks fell, while investors adjusted to a market with greater volatility following wild swings of the past few sessions. The benchmark S&P 500 edged lower after two days of big moves, including its largest single-day percentage loss in more than six years on Monday.
While Wednesday's trading lacked the wild swings of the prior two sessions, the Dow industrials moved in a more than 500-point range, more than three times the average daily swing over the past year. "There are going to be people that are going to be selling into any kind of strength and then you are going to have some value-conscious investors taking advantage of these multiple 100-point drops," said Alan Lancz, president of Alan B. Lancz & Associates, an investment advisory firm in Toledo, Ohio.
"Now that everybody is on edge, you're going to see the volatility swing in both directions," Lancz said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 57.59 points, or 0.23 percent, to 24,970.36, the S&P 500 lost 3.55 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,691.59 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 45.63 points, or 0.64 percent, to 7,070.25.
Technology shares fell 1.0 percent, dragging on the Nasdaq, while energy dropped 1.1 percent as oil prices slumped. The industrials and financials sectors supported the market. The S&P 500 rebounded 1.7 percent on Tuesday, a day after its biggest drop since August 2011.
Investors were weighing whether the sharp swings were the start of a deeper move down or just clearing the way before a resumption of the aging bull market, which would turn nine on March 9. The market's pullback came with concerns about rising bond yields and higher inflation, reinforced by Friday's January US jobs report that prompted worries the Federal Reserve will raise benchmark interest rates at a faster pace than expected this year.
On Wednesday, the US Senate reached a two-year bipartisan budget deal worth around $300 billion in an attempt to end the kind of squabbling over fiscal issues that has plagued Washington for years. The budget deal "is providing a benefit to the market, but I'd be more focused on the discussion around wage growth than worrying about that," said Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco.
The pivotal gauge of market volatility, the VIX, fell 5.2 points to 24.78, but that was still more than twice levels generally seen in the past few months. Wynn Resorts climbed 7.4 percent after casino mogul Steve Wynn resigned as the chief executive following sexual misconduct allegations. Snapchat owner Snap soared 46.6 percent after it reported surging growth in users and revenue in its latest quarter.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.71-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.33-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 3 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 28 new highs and 42 new lows.
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