Wall Street hits a lull even as technology stocks gain

Wall Street turned weary in late morning trading on Wednesday, with a slide in energy stocks and Home Depot offsetting gains in technology sector as investors readjust their stock holdings.

Shares of Microsoft, Facebook and Google parent Alphabet rose more than 1 percent.

The Nasdaq had slipped 1.6 percent in the past three days, its worst such fall in more than three months amid doubts over stretched valuations and the impact of a U.S. tax overhaul on corporate earnings.

"To the end of the year, investors tend to reposition, making sure their portfolio finishes the year where they wanted and begins the next year where they hope to be," said Sean O‘Hara, director at Pacer Financial Inc.

Investors are evaluating the details of the new tax code as the Senate Republicans attempt to reconcile their version of the bill with that of the House of Representatives.

The bill passed on Saturday by Republican senators included a last-minute change to retain the corporate alternative minimum tax, or AMT, which had initially been removed.

Including the AMT could negate parts of the bill seen as beneficial to tech companies and other corporations.

At 10:56 a.m. ET (1556 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.12 percent to 24,209.73 and the S&P 500 gained 0.11 percent to 2,632.53.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.17 percent at 6,773.39.

Home Depot slipped 1.5 percent after gaining about 36 percent this year, following the home improvement chain`s announcement of a $15 billion share repurchase plan.

The stock was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and the Dow.

H&R Block rose about 7 percent after the tax preparation service provider reported better-than-expected revenue.

Oil slipped more than 1 percent after a surprise rise in U.S. inventories of refined products that suggested demand may be flagging.

Newfield Exploration fell 3.4 percent and Range Resources slipped 2.7 percent, the biggest decliners on the S&P energy index.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,430 to 1,272. On the Nasdaq, 1,530 issues fell and 1,179 advanced.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)