US stocks barely budged on Wednesday as investors waited to see whether the Federal Reserve will signal a halt in interest-rate increases. A pullback in crude oil prices offered some support to stocks, with the Dow approaching a record high.
But investors were wary of making big bets on the market before ascertaining that the Fed would pause from almost two years of interest-rate hikes. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 5.68 points, or 0.05 percent, at 11,634.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 2.32 points, or 0.18 percent, at 1,322.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 10.19 points, or 0.44 percent, at 2,328.06.