Wall St ends near flat as trade deal delay weighs

Stocks on Wall Street took a breather Wednesday as investors digested more news on the trade front.

All three indexes ended the day little changed, struggling to keep the momentum after reaching record highs.

Markets took a hit midday after Reuters reported that a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign an interim deal could be delayed until December.

But the drop didn't last long.

Phil Blancato is CEO of Ladenburg Thalman Asset Management:

"The market is waiting for a piece of news that could be a catalyst. Productivity numbers were poor, the headlines around trade are hurting us. So we're still waiting on something to drive it higher or lower but I think it's a benign market right now."

Healthcare stocks were the biggest winners of the day.

Helping lift the S&P were CVS and Humana after both delivered better-than-expected earnings reports.

Meanwhile - energy stocks were the worst performers of the S&P as oil prices slid after the Energy Information Administration said stockpiles of oil in the U.S. rose sharply.

Also weighing on investors - economic data after the labor department reported that productivity by American workers fell during the third quarter by the most in almost four years.