U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday. The averages ticked higher after the release of the Federal Reserve’s May meeting minutes, which showed planned interest rate increases could go further than planned.
Investors had expected further hawkishness from the central bank due to commentary from Fed officials following the central bank's May 3-4 meeting. The meeting minutes seemed to be within investors' expectations, based on the markets' reaction. Bond yields also held relatively steady after the release.
While all three of the major averages gained, the Nasdaq Composite was a notable outperformer. The tech-heavy index jumped the day after it had posted steep losses. |
Retail also remained on investors’ minds as they weighed positive quarterly results from Nordstrom and Dick’s Sporting Goods. This set a different tone from last week, when shares of Walmart and Target suffered after weak earnings.
A report that bidders are still competing to acquire Kohl’s helped boost market sentiment, and the company’s shares jumped almost 12%. Consumer discretionary and energy were the best performing sectors in the S&P 500, up 2.8% and nearly 2%, respectively. |
