NEW YORK, New York - Stocks steadied on Wall Street Wednesday ahead of the holidays.

There were little moves in either direction. U.S. markets will be closed Thursday, and re-open Friday for an abbreviated session.

"A strong consumer and pent-up demand was supposed to make this a strong holiday season for retail, but margin and wage pressures are disrupting many retailer outlooks," Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, said in a note to clients, according to CNBC.

At the close of trading Wednesday, the Dow Jones was down 9.42 points, or 0.03 percent at 35,804.38.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 70.04 points or 0.44 percent to 15,845.23.

The Standard and Poor's 500 advanced 10.76 points or 0.23 percent to 47,011.46.

The U.S, dollar roared ahead Wednesday, extending its recent multi-week rally. The euro was pushed below 1.12, last trading approaching the New York close at 1.1192. The British pound was weak at 1.3327. The Japanese yen declined to 115.43. The Swiss franc weakened to 0.6871.

The Canadian dollar was little changed at 1.2664. The Australian dollar eased to 0.7193. The New Zealand dollar was sharply lower at 0.6871.

Overseas, the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.27 percent Wednesday. The German Dax lost 0.37 percent. The Paris-based CAC 40 was little changed, down 0.03 percent.

On Asian markets, the biggest loser Wednesday was Tokyo's Nikkei 225 which dived 471.45 points or 1.58 percent to 29,302.66.

The Australian All Ordinaries dipped 16.20 points or 0.21 percent to 7,725.50.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 33.92 points or 0.14 percent to 24,685.50.

China's Shanghai Composite climbed 3.61 points or 0.10 percent to close Wednesday at 3,592.70.