US stocks end mixed after Fed minutes

ANKARA

US stocks ended mixed Wednesday after the release of the Federal Reserve's minutes from its last meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 54 points, or 0.16%, to end the day at 34,934. The S&P 500, however, rose nearly 4 points, or 1%, to 4,475.

The Nasdaq decreased 15 points, or 0.11%, to finish at 14,124.

"The Committee’s primary means of adjusting the stance of monetary policy is through changes in the target range for the federal funds rate," the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said in the minutes from the meeting of Jan. 25-26.

"Participants judged that the timing and pace of balance sheet reduction would be determined so as to promote the Committee’s maximum-employment and price-stability goals and that it would be appropriate to begin the process of reducing the size of the balance sheet after the process of increasing the target range for the federal funds rate has begun," it added.

The VIX volatility index fell 5.5% to 24.29, while the dollar index was down 0.21% to 95.78. The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes declined 1.2% to 2.021%.

While gold was slightly up 0.5% to $1,870 per ounce, silver was flat at $23.6.

Brent crude was trading at $92 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was at $91.22.