Around 13:55 GMT, the Dow Jones gave up 0.32%, the Nasdaq index gained 0.29% and the broader S&P 500 index gave up 0.06%.
Before the opening, the New York square received a series of positive news, likely to extend the momentum of the previous day.
Walmart, first of all, did significantly better than its peers and reported results that beat analysts' forecasts, thanks in part to its competitive prices, which make the chain a preferred destination in times of economic uncertainty.
Despite a slight decline in its margins, the giant of Bentonville (Arkansas), considered a barometer of consumption in the United States, has raised its profit target for the whole of its staggered fiscal year (from February to January).
This positive surprise was followed by another, namely the decline in new weekly jobless claims, to 242,000, against 264,000 the previous week, less than projected by economists.
A third ray of sunshine came from the manufacturing activity index in the Philadelphia region (northeast), which remained negative but recovered significantly from April to May (from -31.3 points to -10.4).
"We have a set of better than expected news, but we also come out of a very dynamic end of the session on the rise" Wednesday, commented Art Hogan, B. Riley Wealth Management. "It's going to take more than this catalyst" to go up.
"Traders continue to juggle mixed signals, so it's hard to have much conviction, upside or down," Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com said in a note.
Another element of explanation for this sluggish departure from Wall Street is the statements of the president of the US central bank (Fed) in Dallas, Lorie Logan, according to which the current macroeconomic data do not justify a pause in the monetary tightening cycle at the next meeting of the Fed, mid-June.
These comments pushed bond yields even higher, which have been strengthening for several days as the market accepts the idea that the Fed will not cut rates until the last months of the year, at best.
The yield on 10-year US government bonds stood at 3.63%, compared to 3.56% the previous day.
Traders do not see the Federal Reserve cutting its key interest rate until November and now even give a one-third probability to the scenario of a further hike in June.
On the stock exchange, the telecommunications, cybersecurity and remote computing (cloud) group Cisco (+0.05%) did not benefit from results higher than analysts' projections. The latter mainly remembered the slowdown in orders in the current quarter, as reported by executives.
Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive soared (10.38%) after publishing a revenue up 55%, above expectations, driven by its hit titles NBA 2K and Grand Theft Auto (GTA), as well as a series of mobile games.
A wind was blowing on the regional bank PacWest (+6.21%), heckled in recent weeks, but other institutions in the sector such as the Texas Comerica (-1.42%) or Zions (-1.03%), headquartered in Salt Lake City (Utah), remained behind.
Netflix advanced (+6.32%) after a presentation to advertisers on Wednesday, during which the platform's managers said it had five million "active users" of its offer including advertising.
© 2023 AFP