Stocks closed mixed on Wall Street Wednesday, but gains for several Big Tech stocks, including Facebook and Twitter, nudged the S&P 500 to its second record high in three days. The benchmark index added 0.1% after a day of wobbling between gains and losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose slightly and the Nasdaq fell slightly. Markets have been steadying in recent days as investors become cautiously optimistic about the economic recovery. Vaccine distribution has been ramping up and President Biden has bumped up his deadline for states to make doses available to all adults by April 19. Bond yields rose. The S&P 500 rose 6.01 points to 4,079.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 16.02 points, or less than 0.1%, to 33,446.26. The Nasdaq fell 9.54 points, or 0.1%, to 13,688.84.
The stock indexes were little changed following the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting on interest rate policy, the AP reports. The minutes revealed that Fed officials were encouraged last month by evidence the US economy is picking up, but they showed no sign of moving closer to ending their bond purchases or lifting their benchmark short-term interest rate from nearly zero. Fed policymakers also said they expect inflation will likely rise in the next few months because of supply bottlenecks, but they believe it will remain near their 2% target over the longer run. Analysts expect the recovery to continue, but they also expect the market to remain choppy as investors shift money to companies and industries that stand to benefit as the pandemic eases.
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