The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in early trading and still near its all-time high set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 41 points, or 0.1%, as of 9:50 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.

U.S. stocks drifted to a mixed finish after the latest inflation update boosted hopes that more help for the economy will arrive next month from another cut to interest rates