At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 14,054.79, down 20.58 (0.15 percent).

The Dow got as high as 14,149.15 at midday, not far from the all-time record of 14,164.53 of October 9, 2007.

But the market retreated and then sold into negative territory in the waning minutes of the session.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 1.43 points (0.09 percent) to 1,514.56, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.07 (0.07 percent) to 3,160.19.