US stocks ended Wednesday mixed, as weakness in AI infrastructure names and banks offset gains elsewhere. The S&P 500 and the Dow each added 0.3%, while tech-led declines pushed the Nasdaq 100 into negative territory.
In fixed income, the Treasury said it would double the cap on buybacks of long-term securities next quarter, extending a series of steps aimed at taming the recent spike in longer-dated benchmark yields. Beyond the impact on rates, expectations of higher dollar liquidity from these operations also underpinned equities. That support was reinforced by FOMC minutes that validated some expectations that additional rate hikes could be warranted this year.
Retail shares mostly advanced after earnings updates from TJX, Target, and Lowe’s were well received. The pharmaceutical sector outperformed sharply, with Merck up 12% and Moderna soaring 150% after a joint vaccine trial showed a reduction in melanoma recurrence.
In contrast, lackluster results from OpenAI weighed on semiconductor stocks, dragging AMD and Intel about 4% lower.
