Overnight Markets: S&P 500 snaps seven-day rally

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index on Tuesday snapped a seven-day rally as investors pulled back from technology and financials, but the Dow Jones gained modestly to close at another all-time high.

The S&P 500 dipped four points, or 0.24%, to finish at 1,552 - about 13 points below its record closing high. The Dow Jones industrial average rose just three points to 14,450, another record close. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 11 points, or 0.32%, to close at 3,242.

Financials and technology shares led decline in the broader market with heavyweights such as Apple and Google tumbling. Apple dropped 2.2% after an analyst said the company has a 25% chance of missing its quarterly revenue forecast as iPhone sales slow. Google fell 0.9%.

Citigroup Inc. dropped 1.4% as financial shares retreated amid speculation bank debt will face scrutiny by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

Adding to the negative sentiment, Jens Weidmann, head of the Bundesbank and a member of the European Central Bank's governing council, said the euro zone crisis was not over.

Red Hat Inc. tumbled 4.8%, while Caterpillar Inc., the biggest maker of construction and mining equipment, fell 1.6%. CVS Caremark Corp. slid 1.1% after Goldman Sachs cut its rating on the drugstore chain to neutral from buy.

On the positive side, J.C. Penney Co Inc rose 4% amid talk that the department store chain's chief executive, Ron Johnson, might step down soon.

Merck gained 3.2% after the pharmaceutical company said an outside board had allowed it to continue a trial assessing its Vytorin cholesterol drug.

Costco Wholesale Corp., the largest U.S. warehouse-club chain, gained 1.3% after second-quarter profit rose 39%.

In Asia, shares oscillated between gains and losses on Wednesday amid concern stocks have risen too fast following a three-week rally.