By Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks pared gains in late trade on Wednesday, as a fillip following a better-than-expected reading on new-home sales proved short-lived.

Chart watchers kept an eye again on the S&P 500 index (SPX) as it traded near its Jan. 15 record close of 1,848.38. The benchmark index topped that level intraday on Monday and Tuesday but couldn't close above it.

The S&P 500 was last down a point to 1,843.87, led by the consumer-discretionary and materials sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI) was flat at 16,181.26, with Wal-Mart Stores Inc.(WMT) and Caterpillar Inc (CAT) faring best among blue chips, both rising more than 1%. The Nasdaq Composite(RIXF) was a point lower at 4,288.54.

The S&P 500 and Dow both opened higher, but the trading session was choppy throughout the day. Sales of new single-family homes started 2014 with surprising strength, rising 9.6% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 468,000 above forecasts for 405,000.

The housing report was a "bit of good economic data" that's "flying in the face" of recent weak economic reports that have been blamed on bad weather, said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

He told MarketWatch that the week is somewhat light on market-moving headlines, so traders are focused on the S&P 500 "continuing to pound on the 1,850 area." The index eventually will break through, he said, noting that March and April historically have been the S&P 500's two best months. In the last 20 years, March and April on average have delivered returns of 1.52% and 2.19%, respectively, topping all other months, according to Schaeffer's data.

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On the other hand, Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at MKM Partners, said he sees U.S. equities in a "stalemate" following their move up from their lows in early February.

The past two weeks "have largely been a consolidation for U.S. equities," Krinsky wrote in a note on Wednesday. "Looking objectively at the Bull and Bear arguments, we see no clear edge for the SPX in the near-term. This likely means more frustration for both Bulls and Bears."

In other U.S. economic news, Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto will discusses her 35 years at the Fed in a speech at the College of Wooster later this evening.

In other markets, it was a choppy day in Asia, with the Nikkei 225 closing down 0.5% and the Hong Kong Hang Seng index gaining 0.5%. European stocks were in the red with the Stoxx 600 pulling back from a six-year high reached in the prior session. Gold fell, while oil prices advanced, and the dollar rose against the euro and the yen.

Among individual stocks, Target Corp. (TGT) jumped 6.7% as investors cheered its fourth-quarter report, while rival Wal-Mart rose 1.4% amid news that its Sam's Club business was testing an online subscription service as the threat from Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) grows.

Home Depot was up 5.2% after No. 2 home-improvement retailer Lowe's Cos.(LOW) announced a gain in fourth-quarter profit and additional share buybacks.

Newfield Exploration Company shares jumped 8% after the company's fourth-quarter results beat estimates.

On the downside, First Solar Inc. (FSLR) dropped 9.7% after the company reported quarterly earnings late Tuesday that fell well short of Wall Street forecasts. (Read more: Movers & Shakers http://www.marketwatch.com/column/movers%20%26%20shakers?link=MW_Nav_MA.)

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