Summary: The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial paused from adding to record highs Wednesday. The Nasdaq managed to close in positive territory. Financial stocks lost ground after five major banks agreed to pay a total of $3.4 billion to global regulators. The banks settling on allegations of rigging foreign-exchange benchmarks include Citigroup (C), JPMorgan (JPM) and RBS (RBS). Others that agreed to pay include UBS (UBS) and HSBC (HSBC). Barclays (BCS) is among the banks that have yet to settle. Exxon (XOM) was another big drag for the blue chips. Shares fell with crude oil slipping to a 3-year low. Twitter (TWTR) jumped more than 7% after its first financial analyst day. The social micro blogging site is looking to make other applications and ways to draw in new users. Macy’s (M) bagged 5% after reporting it beat earnings estimates, despite falling short on sales and cutting its outlook. JC Penny (JCP) closed higher ahead of its release after the bell. More retailers will report their earnings results Thursday including Walmart (WMT), Nordstrom (JWN) and Kohl’s (KSS).
