Investing.com – Wall Street closed modestly higher on Wednesday as a mixed bag of economic data did little to lift sentiment while a slump in energy weighed on the broader market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 2451.39. The S&P 500 closed 0.08% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6939.34, up 0.04%.
With just two days of the trading year remaining lighter volumes continued as investors mulled over a mixed bag of economic data on consumer confidence and pending home sales.
Pending home sales were mostly unchanged in November, rising by 0.2% month-on-month, according to the National Association of Realtors. That topped expectations for a 0.4% decline.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence gauge fell to 122.1 in December from a revised reading of 128.6 in November, missing economists' forecast for a reading of 128.
Analysts downplayed the softer consumer confidence report on Wednesday as RBC said that the “internals were constructive” for the near term, pointing to a bullish present situation metric – an important indicator for consumption trends.
In corporate news, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) closed flat after reports suggested that eight lawsuits have been filed against the tech company for intentionally slowing down aging iPhone devices.
Energy was one of the worst performing sectors of the session after some of Tuesday’s gains were reversed as traders appeared to take profit on the recent rally as ahead of year-end.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for January delivery fell 33 cents to settle at $59.64 a barrel.
Bulls and Bears' on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: Visa Inc (NYSE:V) up 0.9%, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) up 0.7% and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) up 0.5%
Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) down 1.1%, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) down 0.8%, and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) down 0.6%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.