US stocks climb in volatile session as Fed minutes signal fast pace of rate hikes followed by a pause

• US stocks ended higher Wednesday after a volatile session that saw the release of the Fed's May meeting minutes.
• Policy makers want to move "expeditiously" with rate hikes to tame hot inflation.

US stocks closed Wednesday's volatile session higher after Federal Reserve meeting minutes indicated the central bank will stay on track for aggressive interest rate hikes and then take some time to gauge the economy's response.

The tech-centered Nasdaq Composite led the rally and joined the S&P 500 in logging a second straight win. Consumer discretionary stocks paced gains on the S&P 500, with upscale retailer Nordstrom raising its quarterly profit outlook on the heels of last week's disappointing results from Target and Walmart.

Here's where US indexes stood at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday:

• S&P 500: 3,978.74, up 0.95%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 32,120.28, up 0.60% (191.66 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 11,434.74, up 1.51%

The Federal Open Market Committee's minutes said policy makers agreed they should "expeditiously move the stance of monetary policy toward a neutral posture," in an effort to cool down inflation. Rate hikes of 50 basis points "would likely be appropriate at the next couple of meetings," the minutes said.

The rate-setters said it was important to consider risk management because of the high degree of uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook. "Many participants judged that expediting the removal of policy accommodation would leave the Committee well-positioned later this year to assess the effects of policy firming and the extent to which economic developments warranted policy adjustments," the minutes said.

"For the equity traders, the FOMC minutes were music to their ears as this is exactly [what they] wanted to hear. No one wants to see the Fed being overly hawkish when there is potential fear of a recession taking place," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, in a note.

"Overall, we anticipate further aggressive rate hikes and a gradual reduction of (Fed) bond holdings for now," Bill Merz, head of capital markets Research at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, said in a note to Insider. "Particularly considering the Fed is on track to hike rates considerably in the near term, it provides some flexibility later in the year to reassess the need for further hikes, which will also factor in changing financial conditions."

The Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the PCE, is set to be released on Friday. Headline consumer price inflation was 8.3% in April.

Around the markets, Russia was moving towards default as the US Treasury ended a key bond payment exemption.

JPMorgan sees bitcoin rising by nearly 30% and says cryptocurrencies are now its preferred alternative asset. Meanwhile, the Terra blockchain will split and effectively scrap its native stablecoin in the wake of its collapse.

Retail investors are still buying the dip in stocks despite the average portfolio losing 32%, says Vanda Research.

Oil prices rose. West Texas Intermediate crude picked up 0.4% to $111.58 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed 1.2% to $111.96.

Gold turned lower, down 0.8% to $1,851.20 per ounce. The 10-year yield fell 1 basis point to 2.75%.

Bitcoin rose 1.6% to $29,886.11.