S&P 500 is little changed as index approaches record high: Live updates

The S&P 500 was little changed on Wednesday as investors watched to see if the benchmark index could return to its all-time high.

The broad market index lost 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 181 points, or 0.4%.

Shares of artificial intelligence darling Nvidia added 4% and was less than 1% off of its record high. Google-parent company Alphabet and chipmaker AMD gained 2% and 3%.

The S&P 500 traded less than 1% below 6,147.43, the intraday record set on Feb. 19. It was also within reach of its closing all-time high of 6,144.15. On top of that, the Nasdaq traded less than 1% from its peak reached in December.

Week to date, the S&P 500 is up more than 2% after a tamer-than-expected Iranian response to U.S. attacks over the weekend. The following ceasefire — announced by President Donald Trump — also boosted equities, as investors breathed a sigh of relief that the conflict wouldn’t disrupt global crude supply.

Wall Street’s move toward record levels comes as trade tensions have eased and a ceasefire in the Middle East between Iran and Israel seems to be holding up. The truce went into effect on shaky footing on Tuesday, with both Israel and Iran accusing the other of violating the ceasefire just hours after it was announced.

“There is a battle in the markets between some of the secular tailwinds, which should positively impact asset prices long term (AI, robotics, crypto, and many other technological innovations), and the cyclical headwinds of possible policy missteps,” said Leah Bennett, chief investment strategist at Concurrent Asset Management. “The former seems to be winning today.”

At one point, the S&P 500 was nearly 20% below its record high — with investors fearing rising tariffs from the U.S. would tip the global economy into a recession. However, labor and inflation data has held up despite those concerns.

On the economic front, investors parsed data on new home sales, which came in at the slowest pace since October 2024. They’ll also monitor Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as he speaks before the Senate Banking Committee.