US stocks trade mixed as Fed minutes show central bank willing to push on with rate hikes to fight inflation

• US stocks were mixed on Wednesday as the Fed minutes showed the central bank is willing to push ahead with further interest rate hikes.
• The Fed remains concerned that inflation is too high and needs to be tamed with more tightening.
• Some members of the Fed were supportive of 50-basis-point increases.

US stocks ended mixed on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting showed that inflation remains a top concern for the central bank as it remains well above its long-term target of 2%.

The minutes indicated that the Fed is highly likely to continue with its tightening, and that some Fed members support 50-basis-point rate hikes rather than the 25-basis-point hike that was implemented earlier this month.

"The participants favoring a 50-basis-point increase noted that a larger increase would more quickly bring the target range close to the levels they believed would achieve a sufficiently restrictive stance, taking into account their views of the risks to achieving price stability in a timely way," the minutes said.

Over the past week, Fed Presidents James Bullard and Loretta Mester advocated for a return to 50-basis-point rate hikes. Bullard said he wants to see the fed funds rate rise to just below 5.5%, compared to its current level of 4.6%.

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

• S&P 500: 3,991.05, down 0.16%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,045.09, down 0.26% (84.50 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 11,507.07, up 0.13%

Here's what else happened today:

• Home Depot warned that there will be a slump in renovations as consumers battle inflation, rising debt, and falling home prices.
• Intuitive Machines soared as much as 259% as investors revive their 2021 SPAC trading playbook. The stock has jumped more than 1,000% since it went public last week.
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk's last tranche of options tied to his compensation package were vested last month, meaning he's now technically working for free.
• S&P Global Ratings cut its long- and short-term credit ratings for Adidas after the German sportswear giant warned that the end of its partnership with Kanye West is likely to hammer earnings.
• One of the biggest bears on Wall Street offered his bullish perspective that could see the S&P 500 soar to record highs next year.

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 3.22% to $73.90 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, dropped 3.01% to $80.55.
• Gold dropped 0.47% to $1,833.90 per ounce.
• The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell two basis points to 3.93%.
• Bitcoin fell 1.54% to $23,788, while ether dropped 1.70% to $1,616.