U.S. stocks closed lower in an up-and-down session on Wednesday, dragged down by tech and energy shares, as investors adjusted to a more volatile market following wild swings of the past few sessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 19.7 points, or 0.08 percent, to 24,893.07, the S&P 500 lost 13.51 points, or 0.50 percent, to 2,681.63 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 63.90 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,051.98.

Canada's main stock index closed lower on Wednesday, dragged down by energy companies and miners as oil and metal prices dropped.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index slipped 33.35 points, or 0.22 percent, to 15,330.58.

U.S. MARKETS

In an up-and-down session, the benchmark S&P 500 faded at the close after trading higher for much of the afternoon, following two days of big moves, including its largest single-day per centage loss in more than six years on Monday.

"Obviously there's a lot of concerned and nervous people. You might have had day traders trying to get out at the end of the day. Who knows what tomorrow brings," said Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco.

While Wednesday's trading lacked the wild swings of the prior two sessions, the Dow industrials moved in a roughly 500-point range, more than three times the average daily swing over the past year.

SThere are going to be people that are going to be selling into any kind of strength and then you are going to have some value-conscious investors taking advantage of these multiple 100-point drops," said Alan Lancz, president of Alan B. Lancz & Associates, an investment advisory firm in Toledo, Ohio.

"Now that everybody is on edge, youRre going to see the volatility swing in both directions,T Lancz said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 19.42 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 24,893.35, the S&P 500 lost 13.48 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 2,681.66 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 63.90 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 7,051.98.

Technology shares fell 1.4 per cent, with Apple down 2.1 per cent, while energy dropped 1.7 per cent as oil prices slumped. Gains for the industrials and financials sectors supported the market.

After regular cash trading on Wednesday, S&P e-mini futures fell 1 per cent, suggesting the negative tone would continue on Thursday.

The S&P 500 had rebounded 1.7 per cent on Tuesday, a day after its biggest drop since August 2011.

Investors were weighing whether the sharp swings were the start of a deeper move down or just clearing the way before a resumption of the aging bull market, which would turn nine on March 9.

The market's pullback came with concerns about rising bond yields and higher inflation, reinforced by Friday's January U.S. jobs report that prompted worries the Federal Reserve will raise benchmark interest rates at a faster pace than expected this year.

"Although there are a couple of things in the way of perfect scenarios, that being interest rates and bond yields and what not, people are still looking at equities as a good investment and they still believe that there is going to be continued upside," said Peter Costa, president of trading firm Empire Executions in New York.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate reached a two-year bipartisan budget deal worth around USUS$300 billion in an attempt to end the kind of squabbling over fiscal issues that has plagued Washington for years.

Benchmark Treasury yields rose after the Treasury Department sold new 10-year notes to soft demand and the U.S. Senate reached a budget deal, possibly adding to pressure on stocks.

"The 10-year rate went back up ... so if you start making new territory there, that could start making people very nervous," Massocca said.

The Cboe Volatility Index, known as the VIX, fell 2.3 points to 27.73, but that was still more than twice levels generally seen in the past few months.

Wynn Resorts climbed 8.6 per cent after casino mogul Steve Wynn resigned as the chief executive following sexual misconduct allegations.

Snapchat owner Snap soared 47.6 per cent after it reported surging growth in users and revenue in its latest quarter.

About 9.1 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, compared with the 8 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.71-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.33-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted three new 52-week highs and three new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 28 new highs and 42 new lows.

CANADIAN MARKETS

Gold and silver-mining company Klondex Mines was the biggest decliner on the index, closing down 7.1 percent after Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal cut their target price for the stock.

Gold prices fell as much as 1 percent to $1,311.66 an ounce, and were trading at $1,316.62 as of 4:17 p.m. ET.

Energy company Paramount Resources was the second-biggest decliner, with a 6.7 percent drop, followed by copper miner Hudbay Minerals, which lost 5.4 percent.

U.S. crude hit a one-month low, falling as much as 3.4 percent to $61.25 a barrel; Brent slid as much as 2.5 percent to $65.16, a six-week low.

Copper futures dropped 2.8 percent to $6,880.05 a tonne.

Torex Gold bucked the downtrend in metals producers to be the best performer on the index, with a 5.2 percent gain. The company said it had completed financing to restart its ELG Mine Complex in Mexico.

Sleep Country Canada was the second-biggest gainer, up 5 percent, after Laurentian Securities initiated coverage with a "buy" rating.

Marijuana producer Canopy Growth Corp and Bombardier Inc were the most actively traded stocks on the index.

There were 124 advancing stocks and 122 declining ones on the index; four were flat.