US close: Stocks mixed as investors sift through Fed minutes
Wall Street's main indices were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as investors sifted through the minutes of the latest Fed meeting.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.26% at 33,045.09 and the S&P 500 lost 0.16% to 3,991.05, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.13% firmer at 11,507.07.
All focus was on minutes from the Federal Reserve's February meeting, which showed some division emerging as a number of officials expressed concern over the recent easing in financial conditions.
The minutes, released at 1900 GMT, showed that "a number" of Fed officials thought easier conditions could require a further tightening of monetary policy.
America’s central bank increased its benchmark rate by 25-basis points to a range of 4.5% to 4.75% at the meeting.
The minutes showed that a "few" officials wanted a 50-basis point rise, with Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester and St. Louis Fed president James Bullard previously confirmed to be among those.
“We think the Fed has already done enough and needs to wait for the full effect of its actions to work through, so further hikes just increase the risk of a recession which is not needed to bring inflation back to the target,” said Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
“But they clearly will hike in March, and a further increase in May now looks more likely than that.
“Beyond May, though, the path of policy will be determined by the data.”
In the corporate space, Intel Corporation was down 2.26% after it announced a two-thirds reduction to its quarterly dividend payout.
That would make for the chip maker's first cut since 2000.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Additional reporting by Alexander Bueso.
Dow Jones - Risers
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $163.36 1.08%
American Express Co. (AXP) $174.70 0.70%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $186.21 0.47%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $140.50 0.42%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $59.98 0.30%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $57.01 0.30%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $148.91 0.29%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $296.30 0.27%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $39.28 0.20%
Boeing Co. (BA) $205.34 0.12%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $25.47 -2.26%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $144.25 -2.10%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $237.89 -1.17%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $119.89 -0.99%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $236.16 -0.87%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $138.48 -0.77%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $49.31 -0.76%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $130.97 -0.56%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $488.89 -0.49%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $251.51 -0.46%
S&P 500 - Risers
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $3.01 6.36%
Arconic Inc. (ARNC) $23.10 4.20%
Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) $40.23 3.26%
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) $41.89 2.77%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $50.18 2.74%
DaVita Inc (DVA) $85.40 2.73%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $406.38 2.55%
NiSource Inc. (NI) $27.61 2.45%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $85.40 2.30%
Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG) $137.29 2.29%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Keysight Technologies Inc. (KEYS) $159.72 -12.71%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $259.05 -5.06%
FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $13.22 -3.85%
News Corp Class A (NWSA) $17.68 -3.18%
News Corp Class B (NWS) $17.85 -3.04%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $33.17 -2.67%
Extra Space Storage (EXR) $154.30 -2.66%
Fluor Corp. (FLR) $35.63 -2.62%
American Tower Corp (Reit) (AMT) $199.28 -2.62%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $40.69 -2.37%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $406.38 2.55%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $57.60 2.15%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $200.86 1.77%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,118.26 1.72%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $20.68 1.37%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $184.37 1.35%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $95.79 1.28%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $382.65 1.25%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $21.32 1.23%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $531.11 1.18%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $103.12 -2.69%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $12.00 -2.68%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $137.12 -2.63%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $25.47 -2.26%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $842.51 -2.05%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $29.99 -1.96%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $144.19 -1.52%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $46.53 -1.36%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $83.50 -1.35%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $39.57 -1.20%