Wall Street began Wednesday with muted trading, as investors braced for the release of the December Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes. During that meeting, policymakers delivered their third consecutive interest rate cut but struck a hawkish tone on inflation and the monetary policy outlook for 2025.

By midday in New York, major indices were little moved, with sectors showing tight variations. Traders appear to be holding their breath as they await insight into the Fed's future policy direction.

President-elect Donald Trump emerged in the spotlight as CNN reported his team is considering an “economic emergency plan” that would bypass Congress to expedite the use of broad-based tariffs.

The dollar, meanwhile, surged further, continuing its relentless rally. The greenback is now targeting its sixth consecutive week of gains, having risen in 14 out of the last 15 weeks. U.S. Treasury yields ticked higher early in the session before easing slightly as traders adjusted positions ahead of the FOMC minutes.

On the economic front, the latest ADP private employment data showed weaker-than-expected job creation in December, potentially signaling a cooling labor market heading into the new year.

In commodities, gold rose 0.8%, buoyed by increasing geopolitical and trade uncertainties. On Tuesday, Trump floated a series of controversial proposals, including the annexation of Canada, the purchase of Greenland from Denmark, threats to NATO allies to increase defense spending and imposing higher tariffs on Mexico.

The cryptocurrency market extended its decline, with Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) falling more than 2% to trade below $95,000. Over the past two sessions, the leading cryptocurrency has shed over 7% of its value, erasing most of its year-to-date gains.

Wednesday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day % chg.
Nasdaq 100	21,148.10	-0.1%
S&P 500	5,901.28	-0.1%
Dow Jones	42,374.01	-0.4%
Russell 2000	2,225.91	-1.1%

Updated at 12:15 p.m. ET

According to Benzinga Pro data:

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) flattened at $588.43.
The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) was unchanged at $425.08.
The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) eased 0.1% to $514.72.
The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) dipped 1% to $220.91.
The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) outperformed, up 0.4%; the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) lagged, down 0.9%.

Wednesday’s Stock Movers

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) dropped 4.1% after HSBC downgraded the stock from “Buy” to “Reduce.”
Quantum-computing stocks took a significant hit after NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang stated “very useful” quantum computers are unlikely to be commercially viable for another 15 to 30 years. Key decliners included D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS), down by 44%; Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT), down 48%; Rigetti Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI), down 48% and IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ), down 45%.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) rallied 11% after Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) announced it would allow some users to browse eBay listings on its Facebook Marketplace platform.