Wall Street little changed as tech offsets energy

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed on Wednesday, as gains in the technology sector offset losses in energy and helped keep major indexes nearly flat.

The S&P technology index <.SPLRCT> was up 0.1 percent and poised to snap a five-session losing streak, its longest since April, led by gains in Facebook , up 1.0 percent, and Visa , up 0.8 percent.

Trading volumes remained muted in the holiday-shortened week between Christmas and New Year. Trading on Tuesday marked the thinnest volume of the year for a full session.

"We don't see the behaviors typical of theme changes so we think this messiness in December is just temporary; the leadership of the year will resume and continue into 2018," said Craig Callahan, President of ICON Funds in Denver.

 

"Technology, for example, led but we don't see them as overpriced."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 15.81 points, or 0.06 percent, to 24,762.02, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 0.18 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,680.68 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 0.64 point, or 0.01 percent, to 6,936.89.

Oil prices dipped after hitting a near two-and-a-half-year high in the previous session, pushing down the S&P energy index <.SPNY> by 0.4 percent.

ConocoPhillips , off 1.6 percent and Chevron down 0.4 were the biggest drags on the index.

Housing stocks <.HGX> edged up 0.1 percent after data showed contracts to buy previously owned homes edged higher in November, the latest signal the housing market may have regained some momentum.

Tesla shares fell 1.7 percent after brokerage KeyBanc lowered its estimate for Model 3 deliveries to roughly 5,000 units from 15,000 units for the fourth quarter.

Shares of wireless-charging technology developer Energous Corp surged 107 percent to $18.30 after it got certification for its wireless charging transmitter.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.16-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.09-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 27 new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 76 new highs and 14 new lows.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish)