US Stocks Muted as Powell’s Inflation Comments Trigger Pullback

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange.

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

US stocks barely moved on Wednesday as Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged and Chair Jerome Powell warned that meaningful inflation could come in the months ahead.

The S&P 500 Index finished the session little changed in New York, spending the latter part of the session struggling for direction. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index was also nearly flat. The VIX Index hovered around 20.