US stocks end at record highs after Fed minutes

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) – Wall Street’s three major indexes closed at record highs Wednesday after minutes from a meeting of Federal Reserve officials suggested they were still on board for a December rate hike.

The Dow added 42 points to end at 22,872 and the S&P 500 rose four points to 2,555.

The Nasdaq increased 16 points to finish trading at 6,603.

Minutes from the Fed’s September policy meeting released Wednesday showed low inflation was a key concern for Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members, who decided to keep the central bank's benchmark interest rate unchanged in the 1.00-1.25 percent range.

Some members were concerned, "low inflation readings this year might reflect not only transitory factors, but also the influence of developments that could prove more persistent”, the minutes said.

Other members, however, believed inflation would return to the Fed's target of 2 percent in the medium-term and the bank should continue its rate hikes.

Retail giants continued to see their shares rise.

Target and Walmart rose 2.7 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices gained around 1 percent after the U.S. Energy Information Administration revised up its oil price forecasts for 2017 and 2018 and revised down U.S. oil production for this year.

At the final bell, international benchmark Brent crude was trading at $56.89 per barrel and American benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was at $51.34 a barrel.