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Wall Street closed mixed on Wednesday, with interest rates continuing to dominate the headlines. For a second consecutive session, the market continued to correct itself by paring gains made in recent days. One of the three major stock indexes ended in the green, one ended in red, while the other remained virtually unchanged.

How Did the Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 172.13 points, or 0.4%, to close at 39,056.39. Twenty-one components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while nine ended in negative. This was the first session in five weeks that the benchmark index closed above the 39,000 mark.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 29.80 points, or 0.2%, to close at 16,302.76.

The S&P 500 declined 0.03 points, remaining virtually unchanged at 5,187.67. Seven of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in the red. The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE), the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) lost 0.9%, 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively, while the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) gained 1.1%.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 1.7% to 13.00. The S&P 500 recorded 32 new 52-week highs and three new lows while the Nasdaq posted 100 new highs and 83 new lows.

Investors Remain Optimistic About Monetary Policy

Following a softer-than-expected jobs report last week, market participants have been optimistic that the U.S. economy could stay strong enough to avoid a recession as long as it is able to keep inflation in check.

While the momentum in the stock markets has stalled over the past two sessions, investors’ mood is pretty upbeat about the central banks’ monetary policy going forward. They are currently expecting two cuts to rates this year.

Investors have also been assessing recent comments from Fed officials, where the messaging seems to have been clear. The Fed is not considering rate hikes, but it would go for rate cuts only after further assessment of data.

However, mixed earnings numbers released on the day weighed on some of the tech majors throughout the session. Consequently, shares of Alphabet Inc. GOOGL and Zscaler, Inc. ZS slid 1.1% and 3.3%, respectively. Alphabet currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Treasury Yields Rise on Treasury Notes Auction

Yields on U.S. government treasury notes finished higher on Wednesday, helped by the $42 billion auction of 10-year notes during the session. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note rose 3.1 bps to 4.491%, its first increase in six sessions.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that wholesale inventories for March had dropped 0.4%, in line with analysts’ estimates, after rising 0.2% in February. The number for February was revised down from the previously reported 0.5% increase.

Per a government report, for the week ended May 3, 2024, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 1.4 million barrels from the previous week. In the week prior, they had gone up by 7.3 million barrels.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.