U.S. stocks slipped in quiet trade Wednesday, while the price of oil took a fresh fall. The slight pullback came a day after major stock indexes flirted with all-time highs. The S&P 500 has hit new records 11 times since early July. Still, investors remain cautious. Oil and metals prices both declined, weighing on mining companies. The S&P 500 materials sector fell 1%. With few major catalysts on the economic calendar, the bulk of market attention was focused on Friday's Jackson Hole conference, where U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen is slated to speak. Any clues on the timing of the next interest-rate rise could steer the dollar and offer fresh direction for markets, analysts say. In European markets, the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4% as advances in banks and media in the basic-resources sector.
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