NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing mixed Wednesday, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average closed at its highest level in two and a half years.
The Dow traded in a tight range throughout the day as investors weighed the impact of increasingly violent protests in Egypt.
Economic data in the U.S. was better than expected. Payroll processor ADP said that private companies hired more people in January than analysts had predicted.
At the market close, the Dow is up 2, or less than 0.1 percent, to 12,042. The S&P 500 is down 4, or 0.3 percent, to 1,304. The Nasdaq composite is down 1, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,750.
Rising and falling shares were even on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume came to 936 million shares.
