New York ? Stocks fell moderately Wednesday as investors found little reason to extend a year-end buying spree.

The market is more than a month into a fourth-quarter rally that has started to feel halfhearted, with strong early gains in many sessions being whittled away by afternoon selling.

“I don’t see a lot of people, just based on the volume we’ve had, betting on a bull market,” said Ned Riley, chief investment officer of Riley Asset Management in Boston.

In trading Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 45.95, or 0.42 percent, to close at 10,810.91.

Broader stock indicators were lower. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 6.33, or 0.5 percent, to 1,257.37, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 8.75, or 0.39 percent, to 2,252.01.

Bonds rose, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note reaching 4.52 percent from 4.48 percent late Tuesday. The U.S. dollar was up against other major currencies in European trading. Gold prices set new highs in Europe for the second straight day.

This is a market where neither the bulls nor the bears have the courage of their convictions, said John Caldwell, chief investment strategist for McDonald Financial Group, part of Cleveland-based KeyCorp.

“This is very much a shoot first and ask questions later kind of market,” he said.