Wall Street Closes Mixed Following Inflation Data and Fed Remarks

The main indices of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) showed a mixed performance on Wednesday, with Wall Street investors digesting the January inflation data as well as recent remarks from the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 61.97 points, or 0.2%, to close at a new record high of 31,437.80 points.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index closed marginally lower by 1.35 points at 3,909.88 points.

On the other hand, the Nasdaq Composite index finished lower by 35.16 points, or 0.3%, at 13,972.53 points.

Data showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the U.S. declined to 0.3% on a monthly basis last month, while the core CPI decreased to 1.4% from 1.6% in December.

Meanwhile, Powell said that he does not see a large nor sustained rise in inflation, calling for more efforts to help the American economy recover from the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic and reach full employment.