Investing.com – U.S. equities closed mixed, after minutes released from the Federal Reserve’s previous meeting signalled that an interest rate hike is coming “fairly soon”.
U.S. equities dipped into negative territory, after the Fed minutes were released, and couldn't mount a meaningful recovery as a slump in the energy sector capped upside momentum.
The so-called ‘Trump rally’ – the rise in U.S. equities brought on by the promise of fiscal expansion and a reduction of corporate taxes from President Donald Trump – has been a major catalyst for the major U.S. indexes, which continue to trade near record highs.
On the economic data front, U.S. home resales surged to a 10-year in January, as buyers shrugged off an increase in home prices and mortgage rates.
On Wednesday, The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales jumped 3.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.69 million units last month – the highest level since February 2007.
In corporate earnings news Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares traded more than 1% higher in after-hours trade, despite posting a loss per share of 69 cents compared to Wall Street estimates' of a 42 cents loss.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 31 points at 20,774.65 The S&P 500 shed 0.11% and the Nasdaq Composite ticked lower to close at 5,860 down 0.09%.
The top S&P 500 gainers included Garmin Ltd (NASDAQ:GRMN) up 7.3%, Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) up 4%; while Du pont (NYSE:DD) added 3.4. Despite the dip in U.S. equities the Dow posted its 9th straight record close.
First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) down 8.4%, Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE:NFX) down 8% and Concho Resources Inc (NYSE:CXO) slumped 6.8%, were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.