STORY: U.S. stocks ended modestly higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 gaining about a quarter of a percent to notch its second straight closing high, while the Dow and Nasdaq ticked up slightly.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January policy meeting reflected concerns about the potential effect of President Donald Trump’s policy proposals, particularly tariffs, on the central bank’s efforts to bring inflation down to its 2% target.
Liz Miller is president of Summit Place Financial Advisors.
“I think the market is digesting the minutes from the FOMC meeting and realizing that this group of incredibly intelligent economists don’t have more insight into future fiscal policies than any investors do. We have confidence that there is a commitment to stability, but the market is showing us here today still with a kind of muted response that investors are going to focus where they see visible earnings growth but are still waiting cautiously to see what the policies look like in the next few months.”
Fourth-quarter earnings season is winding down, with 74% of S&P 500 companies having posted better-than-expected results, according to LSEG.
That included Analog Devices, shares of which gained 9.7% on Wednesday after the chipmaker beat quarterly profit and revenue estimates.
Specialty chemicals company Celanese tumbled 21.5% after reporting a quarterly loss.
Shares of Shift4 slid 17.5% following its fourth-quarter results, and on news that the payments processor has agreed to buy Global Blue in a deal valued at $2.5 billion. Shares of Global Blue jumped 17.5%.
And electric truck maker Nikola plunged more than 39% in the wake of its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
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