All three major stock indices were very little changed but the S&P 500 still crept up to a record closing high.

National Securities chief market strategist Art Hogan:

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): NATIONAL SECURITIES CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST ART HOGAN, SAYING:

"I think the only thing that we have to be concerned about is the fact that we've gotten to where we are pretty quickly. We've had a great five or six weeks where the market has gotten to all-time highs and it hasn't taken much of a breather."

Walmart kicked off earnings season for the nation's big retailers. Results were better-than-expected on a number of metrics. A lot of the strength came from grocery shopping. Online sales were solid as well. Walmart boosted full-year forecasts ahead of the holidays. But the stock finished lower after hitting an all-time high.

Cisco Systems was a drag. The stock fell 7 percent after its somber forecast renewed investor concerns about global business spending, which has been held down due in part to trade uncertainties and political tension like Brexit and protests in Hong Kong.

Wall Street got another whiff of inflation. This time, producer prices saw their biggest jump in six months, led by the largest surge in healthcare costs since 2009. Economists, however, don't expect that to alter the Fed's neutral stance on interest rates.