Asia markets mostly closed, Sydney up after new S&P 500 high

BANGKOK (AP) — Financial markets were mostly closed in Asia on Wednesday for holidays after Wall Street ended a wobbly trading session with meager gains.

Australia's S&P ASX 200 rose 0.8% on Wednesday to 6,377.10 after ANZ reported a 2% increase in its profit, kicking off the earnings season for the country's Big Four banks. New Zealand's benchmark fell 0.6%.

There was no word of specific progress in trade talks between the U.S. and China that were underway in Beijing. With most global markets closed, investors are focusing on a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, a late spurt of buying helped the S&P 500 claim an all-time high for the third straight trading session after hovering below its previous high for most of the day.

Household goods makers, health care stocks, utilities and other sectors helped lift the market, narrowly offsetting a steep decline in communications companies.

Google's parent company, Alphabet, led the slide after the search giant reported a slowdown in revenue growth. Retailers and hospitality industry companies also fell.

The market's latest gyrations came as investors weighed the latest batch of corporate earnings reports.

"This is a market that's trying to find its way after advancing nearly 18% through last night on a year-to-date basis," said Lindsey Bell, investment strategist at CFRA. "While the numbers have been good, there still remains a cautious tone in the market."

The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, to 2,945.83, while Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% to 26,592.91.

The Nasdaq, which is heavily weighted with technology companies, fell 0.8% to 8,095.39. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks dropped 0.4% to 1,591.21.

Major indexes in Europe finished mostly higher.

Bond prices rose. The...