Wall Street traded modestly higher Wednesday, with large-cap benchmarks attempting a fourth straight day of gains as investors looked ahead to a seasonally strong year-end stretch.

By midday in New York, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% near 6,900, hovering within striking distance of last October's all-time highs at 6,920.

The Nasdaq 100 also added 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.3%. Small caps lagged, with the Russell 2000 down about 0.6%.

The session was shaped by the release of stronger-than-expected U.S. growth data. Gross domestic product expanded at a 4.3% annualized pace in the third quarter, beating estimates near 3.3% and marking the fastest growth rate in two years.

That strength prompted traders to scale back expectations for near-term Federal Reserve easing. Markets now price roughly a 15% probability of a 25-basis-point cut in late January, down from 20% a day ...