The Dow Jones Industrials remained aloft 80.34 points to 33,482.72, bolstered by an outperformance by health care stocks.
The S&P 500 swooned 10.22 points to 4,090.38.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ dropped 129.46 points, or 1.1%, to 11,996.86.
High-growth tech stocks were under pressure on Wednesday, with Zscaler off 8% and Crowdstrike falling 7%. Chip stocks were also under pressure, with Advanced Micro Devices falling 3%.
The defensive tilt of the market helped health care stocks outperform, boosting the Dow. Johnson & Johnson shares rose 3.5% after the pharmaceutical company said Tuesday it would pay $8.9 billion over the next 25 years to settle claims that its talc products caused cancer. Utilities stocks also outperformed.
Meanwhile, the energy market added to uncertainty this week after OPEC+ said it would cut output by 1.16 million barrels of oil per day.
Wednesday’s moves came as traders mulled over the latest ADP private payroll report, which showed slowing job growth in March.
That followed Tuesday’s job openings report that suggested the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool the labour market might finally be having an effect. In February, the number of available positions fell below 10 million for the first time in nearly two years.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury strengthened, lowering yields to 3.31% from Tuesday 3.35%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices descended 30 cents to $80.41 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices declined one dollar to $2,037.20 U.S. an ounce.