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U.S. stocks were little changed Wednesday, with the S&P 500 hovering near its record high as investors awaited details from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrials fell 33.11 points by noon hour EDT to 33,397.13.
The S&P 500 regained 1.44 points, to 4,075.38
The NASDAQ Composite hesitated 3.44 points to 13,694.94.
Shares of reopening plays airlines and cruise lines led the gains, continuing their recent run. Carnival climbed 3.6%, while Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line gained more than 2% each. Shares of Southwest Airlines and United both rose over 1%.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was optimistic about the U.S. economic comeback from the pandemic in his widely read annual letter released on Wednesday.
"I have little doubt that with excess savings, new stimulus savings, huge deficit spending, more QE, a new potential infrastructure bill, a successful vaccine and euphoria around the end of the pandemic, the U.S. economy will likely boom," Dimon said in the letter. "This boom could easily run into 2023 because all the spending could extend well into 2023."
The Federal Open Market Committee will publish the minutes from its March meeting, where the central bank opted to leave interest rates unchanged, on Wednesday. The minutes could offer investors a clue as to when the Fed might hike interest rates.
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday raised its 2021 growth outlook for the global economy to 6%, up from January’s forecast of 5.5%. The organization said that "a way out of this health and economic crisis is increasingly visible." The IMF did, however, warn of "daunting challenges" given the varied pace of vaccine rollouts around the world.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys were higher, lowering yields to 1.64%, from Tuesday’s 1.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $1.04 to $58.29 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost $1.80 to $1,741.20 U.S. an ounce.
