US indexes edged lower after six days of consecutive gains

• Wall Street was unable to extend its advance, despite gains in the tech sector.
• Consumer staples led the way lower, with Wal-Mart shedding over 10%.

US equities opened with a soft tone, attempted a recovery, but failed to regain the upside, to post fresh daily lows during the last hour of activity. The DJIA reached a daily low of 24,879, but finished the day at 24,964.75, down a whopping 254 points. The Nasdaq Composite lost 5 points, to 7,234.31, while the S&P ended at 2,716.26 after losing 16 points.

Consumer staples led the way lower, with Wal-Mart shedding over 10%, its worst daily performance in almost 40 years. Within the Dow, only six members closed with gains, led by techs, as Intel topped winners list by adding 1.74%, followed by Microsoft that gained 0.95%.

The Dow daily chart shows that the index is back below a bearish 20 DMA, while technical indicators stalled their recoveries below their mid-lines, gaining downward strength in after-hours trading, somehow leaning the scale toward the downside for this Wednesday. The daily low is a critical support, with a break below it exposing the 24,807 Thursday's low. To the upside, resistances can be seen at 25,094, the mentioned 20 DMA, and 25,233, Tuesday's intraday high.