NEW YORK: US stocks closed higher on Wednesday following the release of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting minutes, which signaled the potential for interest rate cuts in September, reported Xinhua.

"The vast majority" of participants at the July 30-31 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting "observed that, if the data continued to come in about as expected, it would likely be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting," the minutes said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 55.49 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 40,890.49. The S&P 500 added 23.73 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 5,620.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 102.05 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 17,918.99.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with consumer discretionary and materials leading the gainers by going up 1.18 per cent and 1.15 per cent, respectively. Meanwhile, financials and energy dropped 0.14 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which is sensitive to expectations on interest-rate cuts, moved to 3.792 per cent in late trading on Wednesday, hitting its lowest level in more than two weeks.

 A preliminary downward revision to payroll figures indicated that the US job market was not as strong as initially thought earlier this year. The Labour Department reported on Wednesday that US employers had created 818,000 fewer jobs than previously estimated in the 12 months leading up to March.

Retail stocks saw significant movement on Wednesday following the release of earnings reports. Target shares surged 11.2 per cent after the retailer posted strong quarterly results and raised its profit outlook, while Macy's shares fell 12.9 per cent due to a disappointing earnings report.  

- BERNAMA

 -XINHUA