Stocks flat to end day

The Dow and S&P 500 dipped in late Wednesday afternoon trading, pausing after a series of record highs in the Dow and S&P 500, as financial shares lost ground after global regulators fined five major banks.

The Dow Jones Industrials dipped 2.7 to 17, 612.20, while the S&P 500 lopped off 1.43 to 2,038.25, and the NASDAQ index took on 14.58 to 4,675.14

The S&P 500 has rallied more than 9% from a six-month low in October, buoyed by supportive economic data and corporate earnings. For the year so far, it is up more than 10%

Among the biggest decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, SeaWorld Entertainment slumped 9.6% after quarterly earnings fell short of expectations.

Energy shares also dipped along with oil prices, with Brent crude oil breaking below $80 U.S. a barrel for the first time since September 2010. Shares of Exxon Mobil were down 1.3%, leading the S&P 500 lower.

The banks, including UBS AG, HSBC Holdings Plc and Citigroup Inc, were fined $3.4 billion U.S. for failing to stop their traders from trying to manipulate the foreign exchange market.

Citigroup, which will pay $1.02 billion U.S. to settle the probe, dipped 0.8%. JPMorgan Chase, which is also facing a penalty, fell 1.5% and was among the biggest drags on the S&P 500.

The day's gainers included retailers. Macy's rose 4.7% after it posted third-quarter earnings and revised its full-year outlook. Shares of J.C. Penney were up 6.7%, while shares of Urban Outfitters were up 3.2%

Also on the up side, shares of Twitter jumped 6.8% after it said during its first financial analyst day that it is considering creating additional mobile applications beyond its core messaging service and ways of making it easier for newcomers to use its service.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury were unchanged keeping yields at Tuesday's 2.36 %.

Oil prices gained 25 cents to $76.93 U.S.

Gold prices slumped 50 cents to $1,158.60 U.S.