Wall Street stocks largely closed lower on Wednesday, with the broad-based S&P 500 index retreating from a record and investors eyeing key economic indicators ahead.

The Nasdaq slumped 0.5 percent to 16,177, while the S&P slipped 0.2 percent to 5,165.

But the Dow Jones eked out a gain of 0.1 percent to 39,043.

"Given that we have experienced a very exceptional, a really strong rally over the last three or four months, it is reasonable that the pace of gains will slow," said Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones.

While there was no major economic release on Wednesday, he added that markets would be eyeing the producer price index and retail sales figures early on Thursday to gauge how the economy is doing.

This comes after consumer inflation figures logged a surprise acceleration in February, according to figures this week.

Stubborn inflation could nudge the central bank to hold interest rates at a high level for a longer period.

Among companies, Nvidia shares lost 1.1 percent after a strong showing the day prior.

Tech giant Apple lost 1.2 percent. (AFP)