U.S. stocks eked out a fourth straight day of gains on Wednesday as investors combed through minutes of the Federal Reserve’s September policy meeting and awaited a key inflation update due Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
advanced about 65 points, or 0.2%, ending near 33,804, after flipping between small gains and losses. The S&P 500 index
SPX,
gained 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite Index closed 0.7% higher. That was the fourth straight day of gains for all three stock indexes. Likely bolstering stocks was the continued pullback of long-term Treasury yields, with the benchmark 10-year
TMUBMUSD10Y,
rate retreating by 5.8 basis points to 4.596%, the lowest yield in almost two weeks, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Fed meeting minutes reinforced a message that the central bank will tread carefully with future interest-rate decisions given the uncertain economic outlook. That has focus on Thursday’s release of the consumer-price index for September to help gauge the path of inflation and potentially future Fed rate decisions. In corporate news, a big item was a bond deal to finance J.M. Smucker Co’s
SJM,
acquisition of Hostess Brands
TWNK,
a mashup of jelly and donuts.
