India, Feb. 26 -- Stocks showed a strong move to the upside early in the session on Wednesday but gave back ground over the course of the trading day. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, although the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 managed to close in positive territory.

After surging by as much as 1.3 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day up 48.88 points or 0.3 percent to 19,075.26. The S&P 500 eked out a more modest gain, inching up 0.81 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,956.06, while the narrower Dow bucked the uptrend and slid 188.04 points or 0.4 percent to 43,433.12.

The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected bargain hunting following recent weakness, which saw the Nasdaq and the S&P...