The benchmark index had gained for four straight sessions as investors’ appetite for equities has been buoyed by supportive U.S. economic data recently and expectations of monetary easing by the European Central Bank. “We are due for a sideways trending market for a short while, a period of consolidation following a four-day rally and also with the broad equities being at or near all-time highs,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis. It was the S&P 500’s best-performing sector.