S&P 500, Dow pull back from all-time highs; eyes on stimulus talks

The S&P 500 and the Dow eased from record levels on Wednesday as investors kept an eye out for developments related to a fresh economic stimulus deal, with negotiations between government leaders dragging on.

Investors are banking on a long-awaited relief package to mitigate the economic damage from the COVID-19 pandemic that has led to millions of layoffs and overwhelmed the healthcare system.

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said lawmakers were still looking for a path toward an agreement on COVID-19 aid, as the US House of Representatives prepared to vote on a one-week funding bill to provide more time for a deal.

"We had a pretty nice boost in the morning on speculation that we might get a new package, but it's kind of an on-again and off-again thing," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.

Positive updates on the COVID-19 vaccine development have recently lifted Wall Street's main indexes to all-time highs, with the S&P 500 surpassing 37,000 points for the first time on Tuesday.

Johnson & Johnson extended gains from the previous session, when it said it could obtain late-stage trial results for a single-dose vaccine in January, earlier than expected.

With overall valuations now at extremely high levels, some investors worry stocks could be more vulnerable to any bad news such as unexpected setbacks in the roll-out of coronavirus vaccines or delays in stimulus.

"Markets need to digest, trade range bound and have all investors that are very optimistic hone back a little bit. We believe that the business cycle is still in the early innings of a new uptick," said Andrew Smith, chief investment strategist at Delos Capital Advisors in Dallas.

Real estate and utilities sectors posted the sharpest percentage declines. Energy stocks firmed about 1%, tracking higher oil prices.

By 11:32 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 72.68 points, or 0.24%, at 30,101.20, the S&P 500 was down 7.48 points, or 0.20%, at 3,694.77 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 29.45 points, or 0.23%, at 12,553.33.

Shares of DoorDash Inc were set to soar in their debut on Wednesday after the food delivery startup raised $3.37 billion in one of the biggest US stock market launches so far in 2020.

Home improvement chain Lowe's Cos Inc jumped 6% after announcing a new $15 billion share repurchase plan.

Drugmaker Eli Lilly advanced 4% after flagging positive data for its experimental drug from a late-stage diabetes clinical trial.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.2-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, while declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.1-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 36 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 384 new highs and 14 new lows.