Wall Street ambivalent amid mixed signals from FOMC members

As the first-quarter earning reports are approaching, major US equity indices painted a mixed picture on Wednesday amid varied messages from FOMC members.

While the Chicago Fed President Charles Evans supported another one or two increases this year, suggesting even a temporary 2.5% inflation would be in line with Fed's forecasts, Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren and San Francisco Fed President John Williams both expressed their concerns over the risks involved with a more rapid tightening of monetary policy. However, unlike Evans, Williams and Rosengren are non-voters. 

Forex today: Aussie leads, US yields drop but dollar robust on Fed speak

U.S. crude futures jumped above $49, recording a daily gain of more than 2% on Wednesday as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that crude inventories increased 867,000 barrels last week, below the expectation of 1.183 million. Led by oil prices, the S&P 500 energy sector .SPNY rose 1.2%. Following the data, "time is beginning to run out for further large crude inventory builds before the usual second-half of April start of seasonal crude draws," Standard Chartered said in a note, suggesting further stock drops in coming weeks.

According to a recent Reuters poll, the post-election stock rally may have reached its limit. Based on the median forecast of over 40 strategists, the S&P 500 will hit 2,355 by mid-2017 and finish the year at 2,425, just 2.8 percent above where the index closed on Tuesday but up about 8 percent from 2016.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 42.18 points, or 0.2%, to 20,659.32, the S&P 500 buoyed by energy shares, gained 5.25 points, or 0.22%, to 2,356.75 and the Nasdaq Composite added 22.41 points, or 0.36%, to 5,897.55.

Headlines from the U.S. session

• Fed's Williams: Growing U.S. wealth-to-income ratio another reason to keep raising rates
• UK PM May: Looking for reciprocal arrangement with the European Union
• Important to avoid an overheated economy - Fed's Rosengren
• European stocks recover as UK triggers Brexit
• OPEC March oil output falls 230,000 bpd month/month - Reuters
• Fed's Evans on 2017 rate hikes: two are very safe, three could also happen but four would need better fundamentals
• US Dollar accelerates the upside near 100.00