ISTANBUL

US stocks ended mixed Wednesday as the Federal Reserve kept its policy rate unchanged after cutting it at three consecutive meetings during the final months of last year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.025%, or 12.19 points, to close at 49,015.60.

The Nasdaq rose 0.17%, or 40.35 points, to 23,857.45, while the S&P 500 ticked down 0.01%, or 0.57 points, to 6,978.03.

The Fed kept the policy rate steady at the target range between 3.5% and 3.75% on Wednesday, saying that economic activity has been expanding at a "solid" pace.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during a press conference after the decision that the central bank would consider reducing the policy rate after prices declined.

Powell said he expects to see “the effects of tariffs flowing through goods prices peaking and then starting to come down, assuming there are no new major tariff increases that are begun.”

“And that’s what we expect to see over the course of this year. If we see that, that would be something that tells us that we can loosen policy,” he added.

Powel said the US economic growth outlook looks stronger currently compared to where things were last year.

“If you look at the incoming data since the last meeting, (there is) clear improvement in the outlook for growth,” he said at a press conference after the central bank's policy decision.

“Inflation performed about as expected, and as I mentioned, some of the labor market data came in suggesting evidence of stabilization. So it’s overall a stronger forecast really.”

On the corporate side, Amazon shares were down around 0.4% after the e-commerce giant announced an additional 16,000 layoffs to reduce red tape and free up funds for plans to invest extensively in artificial intelligence (AI).

UPS shares also fell more than 3.1% Wednesday after the courier giant said Tuesday that it will be eliminating an extra 30,000 positions this year, in an effort to wind down its collaboration with Amazon and implement a multiyear recovery plan.