NEW YORK, New York – U.S. stocks finished flat to lower on Wednesday, despite strong gains earlier in the day in the tech sector.

“This earnings season has been about pricing momentum and whether consumers are able to handle surging costs,” Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda told CNBC Wednesday.

“So far it seems the consumer can handle it,” he said.

The Dow Jones and Standard and Poor’s 500 retreated from record highs. The Dow Jones did worst, diving 266.19 points or 0.74 percent to 35,490.69.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 declined 33.11 points or 0.51 percent to 4,551.68.

The Nasdaq Composite finished flat, down just 0.12 of a single point at 15,255.84.

The U.S. dollar was little changed. The euro was changing hands at 1.1600 approaching the New York close Wednesday. The British pound slipped to 1.3738. The Japanese yen was slightly stronger at 113.89. The Swiss franc was little changed at 0.9182.

The Canadian dollar rose earlier on the prospect of higher interest rates in Canada, and sooner, but wilted late in the day to be only marginally ahead at 1.2360. The Australian dollar inched up to 0.7517. The New Zealand dollar was a tad higher at 0.7122.

On Asian markets, in Australia, the All Ordinaries dipped 1.30 points or 0.02 percent to 7,758.00.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 edged down 7.77 points or 0.03 percent to 29,098.24.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong did worst, falling 409.53 points or 1.57 percent to 25,628.74.

China’s ShanghaiComposite was off 35.33 points or 0.98 percent at 3,562.31.