US Markets Close Higher, Shrug Off Fed Minutes

US stocks ended higher on Wednesday after minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting showed officials were divided on economic signals.

According to minutes of the US central bank's June policy meeting, Fed officials felt substantial further progress on the economic recovery "was generally seen as not having yet been met," but agreed they should be poised to act if inflation or other risks materialized.

"I read this as effectively a dovish set of notes simply because they don't feel as a group that they have enough certainty around the situation to make any changes at all," said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Wall Street has been concerned about inflation, with investors moving between economy-linked value stocks and growth names in the past few sessions.

Industrials led S&P 500 sector gains on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 percent to 34,681, the S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to 4,359 - a new record - and the Nasdaq Composite was barely changed, adding 0.01 percent to 14,665.

China's market regulator said it has fined a number of internet companies including Didi Global, Tencent and Alibaba for failing to report earlier merger and acquisition deals for approval. (Reuters, AP)