Tech stocks were among the biggest losers, after rising sharply for much of the year.

The dive in the major stock indices followed a string of record closes since last week, as prices were driven ever higher in recent months by robust earnings, good economic news and the promise of business-friendly tax cuts and slashed regulation.

At the close, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 0.4 percent to 23,461.94. The broader S&P 500 fell a similar amount to 2,584.62, while the tech-dominated Nasdaq dropped 0.6 percent to 6,750.05.

Despite the declines, all three indices had recovered substantially after nosediving between one percent and 1.4 percent in late-morning trading.

Wall Street has rallied with only minor interruption since President Donald Trump took the White House a year ago, promising to enact a pro-growth agenda, helping drive the Dow and Nasdaq up about 30 percent.

Investors also followed their counterparts in Asia and Europe in taking advantage of high prices to reap some gains in the session.

"A combination of profit taking and perhaps the prospect that maybe some key parts of the bill may be delayed is what is causing this," Peter Cardillo of First Standard Financial told AFP.

Major tech stocks saw heavy losses: Google-parent Alphabet fell a full percentage point, Microsoft gave up 0.6 percent and Apple lost 0.4 percent.

Oil prices recovered from some mid-week losses amid continuing political upheaval in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate benchmark crude for December delivery rose 36 cents in New York to settle at $57.17 per barrel.

Petroleum-linked stocks were buoyant, following oil prices higher, with Exxon Mobil adding 0.6 percent and Chevron gaining 0.5 percent.