US stocks mostly fell on Wednesday amid renewed anxiety over the eurozone as Cyprus moves to implement the EU-IMF rescue plan.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 33.49 points (0.23 per cent) to 14,526.16.

The broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.92 (0.06 per cent) to 1,562.85, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index eked out a gain of 4.04 (0.12 per cent) to 3,256.52.

Markets remained preoccupied by Europe, not only because of the Cyprus situation, but because of political instability in Italy, said Art Hogan of Lazard Capital Markets.

“The Italian turmoil is the new concern that we have, and the comments out of Italy don’t make people feel we’re going to have a solution any time soon,” Hogan said.

It was a mixed day for leading technology equities. Apple gave up 2 per cent and Google dropped 1.2 per cent. But Oracle gained 1.3 per cent and Amazon added 1.9 per cent.

Biogen jumped 3.2 per cent after gaining Food and Drug Administration approval for a new drug to treat multiple sclerosis.

Walmart ended the day essentially flat after reporting that it anticipates unspecified losses related to the ongoing probe of corruption involving foreign subsidiaries.

CBS gained 1 per cent and Lionsgate picked up 0.5 per cent after the companies announced a joint venture to run programming on the basic cable network TVGN and to jointly run the website TVGuide.com.

Coal and iron ore producer Cliffs Natural Resources sank 13.9 per cent after Credit Suisse reduced its price target, citing “structural changes” in a key iron ore market that will harm its pricing power and “erode the earnings potential.”

SAIC, a big contractor to the Pentagon and other government agencies, rose 3.9 per cent after announcing a special cash dividend.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 1.85 per cent from 1.91 per cent late on Tuesday, while the 30-year dropped to 3.09 per cent from 3.13 per cent. Bond prices move inversely to yields.