 "Wall Street muted by health stocks; Italy, ECB boost Europe")
Wall Street's rise was held back by health stocks on Wednesday while European stocks rose on reports Italy would step in to rescue troubled bank Monte dei Paschi and on expectations, the European Central Bank (ECB) would extend its bond-buying.
Major currencies tread water with traders waiting on the ECB's Thursday meeting to find out if the ECB's monthly bond purchases will be kept steady or scaled back, and whether it will signal the eventual end of the program.
Prices on longer-dated US Treasuries rose following a large block purchase of 10-year Treasury note futures after disappointing overseas data pushed foreign yields lower.
Healthcare stocks were the biggest drag on the S&P 500 after a report that President Elect Donald Trump said he would bring down pricing. This led the benchmark S&P to take a breather after three days of advances.
"When we have run up so high, it's common that there is some sensitivity in the market, maybe due to softer oil prices or just the technical aspects of being at such high levels," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 15.43 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 19,267.21, the S&P 500 gained 2.28 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 2,214.51 and the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 1.39 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 5,331.61.
Oil prices fell as investors questioned whether a deal to cut output agreed last week by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and others would be enough to drain a global glut.
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Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 75 cents to $53.19 a barrel. US light crude was down 94 cents at $49.99 a barrel.
Italian Banks Boost
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.7 per cent while Italy's FTSE MIB share index gained 1.7 per cent, to hit its highest point since May as the country's banking stocks continued their rally.
Shares in Monte dei Paschi, Italy's oldest bank, rose about 9 per cent, and an index of Italian lenders' shares rose 5 per cent after jumping 9 per cent in the previous day's session.
Reuters had reported exclusively on Tuesday that Italy was preparing to take a 2-billion-euro controlling stake in the bank as prospects of a private funding rescue faded following Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's decision to resign after voters rejected his proposals for constitutional reform.
"Despite the fact that the probability of early elections has risen, the market is focusing on the banking sector and the fact the government seems to be showing more urgency in dealing with that problem," Mizuho strategist Antoine Bouvet said.
The euro edged up 0.3 per cent to $1.075. The dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of six of its major peers, was down 0.2 per cent.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR were up 12/32 in price to yield 2.351 per cent, down 4.5 basis points from late on Tuesday. The 10-year yield retreated further from a near 1-1/2 year peak struck on December 1 at 2.492 per cent, according to Reuters data.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 per cent while Japan's Nikkei added 0.7 per cent. Chinese shares gained 0.5 per cent.