news/AMZN/2023.02.22/Wall St slightly higher as investors focus on Fed minutes.txt

*Fed minutes due at 2:00 p.m. ET*Palo Alto Networks rises on upbeat forecast*CoStar slumps as talks to buy Move from News Corp stalled*Indexes up: Dow 0.26%, S&P 0.22%, Nasdaq 0.28%Feb 22 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes edged
higher in choppy trading on Wednesday, a day after their worst
performance of the year, as investors awaited minutes from the
Federal Reserve's policy meeting for fresh clues on the
trajectory of interest rates.U.S. stocks shed more than 2% on Tuesday after a rebound in
business activity in February stoked fears of interest rates
staying higher for longer.Minutes from the Fed's Jan. 31-Feb. 1 meeting, due at 2:00
p.m. ET, are expected to detail the breadth of debate at the
central bank about the rate hike path."Few members of the Fed have talked publicly about the
case for a 50 bp hike and investors would want to gauge how
serious that discussion is within the central bank," said Matt
Stucky, senior portfolio manager at Northwestern Mutual Wealth
Management Co.St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who advocated for
a half-point increase at the Fed's last session, said the U.S.
central bank needs to get inflation toward its 2% goal this year
to avoid its prolonged impact.New York Fed President John Williams, a voting member of the
rate-setting committee this year, is scheduled to speak later in
the day.Following a market rout in 2022, the three major indexes
logged monthly gains in January as investors hoped the Fed would
pause its rate hikes and perhaps pivot around year-end.However, stocks have had a volatile run in February, leaving
the Dow flat for the year as traders priced in higher interest
rates for longer, assuming that inflation remains higher in a
sturdy economy.Money market participants expect rates to peak at 5.35% by
July and stay around those levels till the end of 2023.At 12:29 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
was up 87.29 points, or 0.26%, at 33,216.88, the S&P 500
was up 8.86 points, or 0.22%, at 4,006.20, and the Nasdaq
Composite was up 31.84 points, or 0.28%, at 11,524.14.Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors gained, with consumer
discretionary stocks climbing 0.9%.Analysts polled by Reuters expect the S&P 500 index to
advance 5% by year-end, but high-interest rates and inflation
have led many strategists to predict a correction within the
next three months.Growth names like Tesla Inc, Nvidia Corp,
Qualcomm Inc and Amazon.com Inc edged higher
as the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes slid from
multi-month highs.Palo Alto Networks Inc rose 11.6% after the
cybersecurity company raised its annual profit forecast.CoStar Group dropped 4.0% as the online real estate
marketplace provider said it was no longer in talks to buy
Realtor.com-owner Move Inc from News Corp and forecast
disappointing first-quarter revenue.Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.69-to-1
ratio on the NYSE. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a
1.27-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.The S&P index recorded three new 52-week highs and one new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 21 new highs and 92 new low.
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Medha Singh in Bengaluru;
Editing by Arun Koyyur and Anil D'Silva)