US: Stocks mixed after dovish Fed Chair comments

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks finished mixed on Wednesday, with the Dow at a record following dovish remarks from the Federal Reserve chair regarding inflation and monetary policy.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the United States remains "very far" from a strong labour market, signaling no foreseeable change in the central bank's easy-money policies.

Mr Powell also repeatedly expressed skepticism about a rise in inflation, which some economists said could come if the US government approves another massive stimulus measure. His remarks came after consumer data released earlier Wednesday showed tepid price increases.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 per cent to 31,437.74, narrowly eclipsing Monday's record after a choppy session.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped by a hair to 3,909.88, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3 per cent to 13,972.53, snapping a four-day streak of records.

After all three major indices closed at records on Monday, equities have meandered the last two sessions. Investors remain generally upbeat on expectations for more US stimulus spending and the economic bounce from coronavirus vaccines.

Among individual companies, Twitter jumped 13.2 per cent as it reported sizeable increases in its user base and its ranks of "monetisable" daily active users.

Twitter said its profit nearly doubled from a year earlier to US$222 million on revenue that soared 28 per cent to a record US$1.29 billion.

General Motors fell 2.0 per cent after the automaker projected higher 2021 operating earnings despite an up to a US$2 billion hit from the global semiconductor shortage. However, shares are still up around 32 per cent this year.

Match Group jumped 7.7 per cent after announcing a US$1.7 billion acquisition of Hyperconnect, a "social discovery" and video company from South Korea.

AFP