U.S. stocks on Wednesday closed largely unchanged. The S&P 500 started to look overbought again after reaching two and a half year highs on Tuesday. The Dow closed on Tuesday above the milestone 12,000 level for the first time since June 2008, and the S&P closed above the 1,300 level for the first time since August 2008. Investors on Wednesday kept an eye on protests in Egypt as violent street clashes erupted. Concerns that protests could spread to other countries in the region have pressured equities in recent sessions. The Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF, which consists of shares of companies in Egypt, fell 3.7 percent after rising for two consecutive days. Oil prices fluctuated throughout the day as traders balanced the clashes in Egypt with a report that fuel supplies were growing in the United States. Oil settled nine cents higher at $90.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.81 points, or 0.02 percent, to 12,041.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 3.56 points, or 0.27 percent, to 1,304.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.03 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,750.16. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), American Exchange (Amex) and Nasdaq reached 7.26 billion compared to last year's daily average of about 8.47 billion.
