NEW YORK (AP) – Wall Street caught its breath Wednesday after the previous session’s big advance, barely moving amid a mix of economic data and a drop in oil prices.

A trade group reported the country’s service economy expanded at a slower pace in March than in February, while electronics retailers offered mixed reports.

The market clung to gains earned Tuesday when the Dow Jones industrials and Standard & Poor’s 500, riding some optimism about the housing market, rose to their highest levels since a global pullback Feb. 27.

Some relief from global political tensions eased with word Iran agreed to release 15 British sailors and marines it had detained.

In midmorning trading, the Dow rose 4.88, or 0.04 percent, to 12,515.18.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 0.12, or 0.01 percent, to 1,437.65, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 2.60, or 0.11 percent, to 2,452.93.

Bonds rose after slipping Tuesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.65 percent from 4.67 percent late Tuesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Light, sweet crude fell 44 cents to $64.20 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices, which had been higher since incident between Iran and Britain began March 23, moved lower but pared some of their losses after release of inventory data. Weekly Energy Department figures showed a greater-than-expected draw last week of gasoline supplies.

The Institute for Supply Management, an organization of corporate purchasing executives, reported its index of business activity in the non-manufacturing sector came in at 52.4 in March, down from 54.3 in February. Wall Street had been expecting a reading of 54.7.

Figures above 50 indicate expansion. March represents the 48th consecutive month of growth in the non-manufacturing industries.

Also, new orders placed with U.S. factories for manufactured goods rose by a disappointing 1 percent in February. Economists had been expecting an increase of 1.9 percent.

Investors appeared unimpressed with a report from payroll-services company Automatic Data Processing Inc. and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers reported that predicts an increase of 106,000 private jobs in March. That came in below economists’ expectations for an increase of 150,000 jobs.

In corporate news, Best Buy Co. slipped 4 cents to $49.09 after reporting its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose nearly 19 percent.

Rival Circuit City Stores Inc. posted an unexpected loss because of sluggish sales growth – especially in its flat-panel televisions. Circuit City, the No. 2 electronics chain behind Best Buy, fell 29 cents to $17.98.

In other corporate news, automakers will remain in focus as DaimlerChrysler AG Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said the automaker is in talks with potential buyers for its Chrysler unit. He would not elaborate on who was involved in the talks. DaimlerChrysler fell $1.21 to $81.74.

There is also speculation that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have been hired by private equity firm Apollo Management LP about a possible public offering, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apollo would follow a move by rival Blackstone Group LP to raise $4 billion with a stock market debut.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 328.4 million shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 2.42, or 0.30 percent, to 809.35.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average closed up 1.74 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.16 percent, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.15 percent, and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.19 percent.

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