Wall Street rose slightly as investors focus on the Federal Reserve’s minutes

(Reuters) – Wall Street’s major indexes rose in choppy trading on Wednesday, a day after their worst performance this year, as investors waited minutes from the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting for fresh clues about the path of interest rates.

US stocks fell more than 2% on Tuesday after a rebound in business activity in February sparked concerns that interest rates could stay high for longer.

Minutes from the Fed from January 31 to February. The first meeting, scheduled for 2:00 PM ET, is expected to explain the broadening of the central bank’s debate over the path of rate hikes.

Matt Stacky, senior portfolio manager at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Louis Fed President James Bullard, who called for a half-point increase in the Fed’s latest session, said the US central bank needs to push inflation toward its 2% target this year to avoid a lingering effect.

New York Fed President John Williams, a voting member of the rate-setting committee this year, is scheduled to speak later in the day.

After the market crash in 2022, the three major indices posted monthly gains in January as investors hoped the Fed would halt its interest rate increases and possibly pivot towards the end of the year.

However, stocks were volatile in February, leaving the Dow flat for the year as traders priced in higher interest rates for longer, assuming inflation remains higher in a strong economy.

Money market participants expect rates to peak at 5.35% by July and to remain around those levels until the end of 2023.

At 12:29 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) was up 87.29 points, or 0.26%, at 33,216.88, the S&P 500 (.SPX) was up 8.86 points, or 0.22%, at 4,006.20, and the Nasdaq. The Composite Index (.IXIC) rose 31.84 points, or 0.28%, to 11,524.14 points.

Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors rose, with consumer discretionary stocks (.SPLRCD) gaining 0.9%.

Analysts polled by Reuters expect the S&P 500 to rise 5% by the end of the year, but high interest rates and inflation have led many strategists to expect a correction within the next three months.

Growth names like Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) surged as the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes fell from its highest levels. in several months.

Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW.O) rose 11.6% after the cybersecurity firm raised its annual earnings forecast.

CoStar Group (CSGP.O) fell 4.0% as the online real estate marketplace provider said it was no longer in talks to buy Realtor.com owner Mov Inc from News Corp (NWSA.O) and forecast disappointing first-quarter revenue.

Advance issues outnumber losers 1.69 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. Advances outnumbered losers 1.27 to 1 on the Nasdaq.

The S&P posted three new highs in 52 weeks and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 21 new highs and 92 new lows.

Additional reporting by Johan M Cherian and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Anil D’Silva

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