Day Traders Diary

2/22/23

The major averages closed mixed following the worst day of the year on Tuesday. Stocks fell Wednesday as traders parsed through a summary of the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting, looking for clues on the central bank's next move against inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 83 points, or 0.25%. The S&P 500 fell 0.15%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 14 points or 0.13%.

The minutes showed inflation remained "well above" the Fed's 2% target, adding that the labor market is still "very tight, contributing to continuing upward pressures on wages and prices."

Fed officials also noted that "inflation data received over the past three months showed a welcome reduction in the monthly pace of price increases but stressed that substantially more evidence of progress across a broader range of prices would be required to be confident that inflation was on a sustained downward path," the minutes said.

The minutes were released after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard cautioned earlier Wednesday that the central bank's fight against inflation is far from over.

Mounting concerns that the Fed will continue hiking rates spooked investors Tuesday and pushed stocks to their worst day of 2023.

LPL Financial's chief market strategist Quincy Krosby said that while today's Fed minutes reiterated much of what investors had already processed, upcoming economic data releases, such as the Personal Consumption Expenditures Index will be critical.

Shares of Palo Alto Networks popped 12% after the cybersecurity company lifted its earnings forecast for the year. Crypto exchange platform Coinbase topped revenue expectations, but shares fell 4%.