Stocks rose modestly Wednesday afternoon after briefly turning lower following the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January meeting, which showed the policy-setting committee was split on the path for interest rates.
What are stock indexes doing?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.28% gained 56 points, or 0.2%, to 25,944 and the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.22% rose 4 points, or 0.1%, to 2,783. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.07% however, declined by 6 points, or 0.1%, at 7,481.
What’s driving the market?
The transcript of the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting in January indicated that officials were divided between those who believed that rate increases might be needed only if inflation accelerated beyond their baseline forecast and those who argued that tighter policy is needed if the economy evolved as expected. However, almost all participants at the conference wanted to stop reducing the balance sheet later this year.
Trade remains in the spotlight despite few concrete developments. Stocks had found some support Tuesday after President Donald Trump said there was nothing “magical” about a March 1 deadline for U.S.-China negotiations, which was taken as a sign that tariffs on imports of Chinese goods might not automatically be raised to 25% from 10% on that date if a formal deal hasn’t been completed.
U.S. and Chinese negotiators are set to continue talks in Washington after discussions last week in Beijing.
What are analysts saying?
Market expectations for more dovish signals from the Federal Reserve are high, Marc Pfeffer, chief investment strategist and portfolio manager at CLS Investments told MarketWatch. “The market is expecting the Fed to downgrade their view of the economy, while remaining positive about the economy,” he said.
The Fed minutes are “the single most important event of the week because it will give us much-needed insight into the Federal Reserve’s thinking around its significant change of heart,” said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco, in a note.
What stocks are in focus?
Shares of CVS Health Corp. CVS, -8.29% sank 8.1% after the health-care retailer reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that fell short of Wall Street expectations.
Cadence Design Systems CDS, +5.04% shares rose 4.8% after the firm reported fourth-quarter results that topped consensus expectations, while raising its first-quarter outlook.
Tesla Inc. TSLA, -1.24% shares fell 1.2% after the company announced that its general counsel, Dane Butsinkas, is leaving the firm after just two months in the role.
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Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. LUV, -5.12% declined 4.8% after the company said that the government shutdown had reduced revenue more than expected, lowering its first-quarter outlook.
LendingClub Corp. LC, -7.62% shares dropped 6.7% after the peer-to-peer lending firm announced fourth-quarter results that fell short of analyst forecasts.
Shares of Garmin Ltd. GRMN, +17.00% rallied 17% after the firm reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that surpassed expectations, while increasing its dividend.
How are other markets trading?
Asian stocks rose, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, +0.60% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +1.01% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +0.20% all closing higher.
In Europe, stocks also gained, with the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.67% up 0.7%.
The price of crude oil CLH9, +1.44% rose more than 1%. Gold prices GCH9, -0.07% settled slightly higher and the U.S. dollar DXY, -0.05% retreated against peers.
—William Watts contributed to this article
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