NEW YORK, New York - Wall Street had a less than an impressive day on Wednesday despite efforts in the Congress for a new stimulus package. The divide between the Republicans who control the Senate, and the Democrats who control the House of Representatives appeared at various stages of the day of being too great to bridge.

"Generally, the theme has been positive and the bipartisan plan gives us a base for further stimulus talks," Amo Sahota, executive director at currency advisory firm Klarity FX in San Francisco told Reuters Thomson Wednesday. "But quite honestly, I am not convinced by the stimulus plans. I think they're still far away from a deal from what we can tell," he added.

The Dow Jones, with a limp rise did best of all. The key index rose 59.87 points or 0.20 percent to close at 29,883.79.

The Standard and Poor's 500 edged up 6.56 points or 0.18 percent to 3,669.01.

The Nasdaq Composite declined 5.74 points or 0.05 percent to 12,349.37.

The U.S. dollar continued to reel. The euro hit a new fresh recent high of 1.2102 by the New York close Wednesday.

The Swiss franc soared to 0.8957. The Canadian dollar strengthened to 1.2923.

The Australian dollar was sharply higher at .07406.

The British pound eased to 1.3364. The Japanese yen remained in a virtual coma, unchanged for the past three days at 104.50. The New Zealand dollar eased to 0.7061.

In London, the FTSE 100 appreciated by 1.23 percent. The German Dax lost 0.52 percent. The Paris-based CAC 40 climbed 0.02 percent.

On Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 13.44 points or 0.05 percent to 26,800.98.

The Australian All Ordinaries was flat, dipping 0.90 of a point or 0.01 percent to 6,811.30.

China's Shanghai Composite edged down 2.36 points or 0.07 percent to 3,449.38.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 35.10 points or 0.13 percent to 26,532.58.