Rising oil prices dragged on the broader market on the two-year anniversary of stocks' bull run from the S&P 500's 12-1/2-year closing low of 676.53, which was sparked by the financial crisis.

An index of semiconductor shares (.SOX) was down 2.9 percent and was trading below its 50-day moving average in another sign of more losses for the sector.

Texas Instruments shares fell 3.1 percent to $34.74, a day after the company gave a current-quarter earnings estimate below Wall Street's estimates.

"I think the markets are ready for a sell-off that continues to be started by the Nasdaq futures markets," said Harry Michas, technical analyst and stock index futures trader at Iharmarketmonitor.com.

"If the Nasdaq futures fall back below the 2,313.00 level again, it should attract more profit taking as well as some new shorts." The futures were trading around 2,316.

Bucking the tech trend, the Dow bounced back from a session low and reclaimed a slim gain as buyers snapped up shares of International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N).

The stock hit an intraday high of $167.72, its highest since 1973, after a host of analysts raised their target price on the stock. A day earlier, the tech giant reaffirmed its 2015 earnings target.