Benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose early and reached fresh intraday record highs, but then they retreated as technology stocks dipped.

Utilities and industrials were the two other sectors that dragged the S&P 500 lower. The gainers were led by consumer discretionary and energy.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell 1.1% and was back to being the world's third most valuable company the day after it jumped ahead of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to take second place.

Investors will watch Friday's crucial U.S. nonfarm payrolls report. The weekly jobless claims report was the latest data to indicate labor market easing, which could allow the Federal Reserve begin cutting interest rates. The European Central Bank delivered its first interest rate cut since 2019.

"It's a little bit of a pause before non-farm," said Bill Strazzullo, chief market strategist at Bell Curve Trading in Boston. "It's not unusual. We had a big day yesterday and today people are getting their positions where they want to be before the payroll number," he said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 78.84 points, or 0.20%, to 38,886.17, the S&P 500 lost 1.07 points, or 0.02%, to 5,352.96 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 14.78 points, or 0.09%, to 17,173.12.

Gains in Nvidia and other AI-related players have largely driven Wall Street's rally this year, with the chipmaker accounting for roughly a third of the S&P 500's year-to-date gains of over 12%.