Stocks end mostly lower, but head for big monthly gains

Stocks ended mostly a shade lower on Wednesday, but remained on track for the biggest monthly gains of 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.04%
eked out a gain of around 14 points, or less than 0.1%, to close near 35,431, according to preliminary figures. The S&P 500
SPX,
-0.09%
fell 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-0.16%
shed 0.2%. The S&P 500 has rallied 8.5% so far this month, while the Nasdaq is up 11%, which would be the biggest monthly advance for both indexes since July 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Dow is up 7.2% in November, which would be its strongest monthly showing since October 2022.