Wall Street stocks were near flat at the end of a choppy session on Wednesday as the market struggled to recover from the prior session's rout.

Worries about inflation, weakening consumer sentiment and tightening monetary policy have weighed on stocks throughout 2022, including Tuesday, when the S&P 500 tumbled two percent.

The upcoming quarterly earnings season offers an opportunity for an investment catalyst to cheer investors, but could point stocks lower if it disappoints, said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investment.

"The market is looking for some good news and not able to find anything that stands out," Sarhan said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.3 percent at 31,029.31.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent to 3,818.83, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged down by less than 0.1 percent to 11,177.89.

Among individual companies, General Mills rose 6.4 percent after reporting that quarterly profits more than doubled to $825.8 million on an eight percent rise in revenues.

Bed Bath & Beyond plunged 23.6 percent after reporting quarterly loss following a 25 percent drop in quarterly sales. The company announced that it was replacing Mark Tritton as chief executive with interim leader Sue Gove. (AFP)