The Dow Jones industrial average rose 10.44 to 6,266.04, setting its fifth consecutive closing high.
Advancers outnumbered decliners by a 6-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,344 up, 1,119 down and 849 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 471.74 million shares vs. 353.96 million million yesterday.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 2.31 to 729.56, and the NYSE's composite index fell 0.65 to 386.18. The Nasdaq composite index fell 5.99 to 1,256.68, but the American Stock Exchange market value index rose 1.91 to 581.64.
The blue-chip index lost 16 points in early trading, recovered to show a gain of more than 20 points, then slipped back a second time before rallying into the close.
"It's had a huge run," said Peter Anderson, chief investment officer at IDS Advisory Group in Minneapolis.
Investors are "simply cautious given what's happened in the last several sessions," he said.
Stocks trimmed their midday gains even as bonds built on theirs.
The 30-year Treasury bond was up 7/8 point late in the session, pushing its yield, which moves opposite the price, to 6.43 percent.
"Short-term momentum measures are a little bit stretched" in the stock market, said Joseph DeMarco, managing director at HSBC Asset Management Americas, "despite the strong bond market."