US stocks have recovered from early losses to finish little-changed as Federal Reserve meeting minutes suggested it would wait longer before raising interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17.73 points (0.10 per cent) to 18,029.85.
The broad-based S&P 500 lost a scant 0.66 (0.03 per cent) at 2,099.68, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 7.10 (0.14 per cent) to 4,906.36.
Minutes from the Fed’s January monetary policy board meeting showed many members were concerned about moving too soon on rate hikes and stifling economic growth.
The minutes are “generally indicating that the interest rates are going to remain low maybe for longer,” said Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth Management.
Dow member ExxonMobil fell 2.2 per cent after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reported it had sold more than 41 million shares of the petroleum giant in the fourth quarter of last year.
The oil giant also said that four workers at a California oil refinery suffered minor injuries following an explosion at the plant.
Other petroleum stocks also dropped as oil prices fell.
ConocoPhillips lost 2.5 per cent and Anadarko Petroleum shed 2.0 per cent.
Virgin America jumped 4.4 per cent after fourth-quarter earnings translated to $US1.16 per share, much above the 80 cents projected by Wall Street analysts for the airline.
The results lifted other US carriers.
American Airlines rose 2.7 per cent, Delta Air Lines gained 1.3 per cent and United Continental tacked on 2.8 per cent.
Health technology group Boston Scientific jumped 12.4 per cent after it announced it would pay a less-than-expected $US600 million ($A767.5 million) to Johnson & Johnson to settle litigation over Boston Scientific’s takeover of Guidant in 2005.
Johnson & Johnson and Guidant were already in merger talks when Boston Scientific’s offer broke up that deal.
Fossil Group, a maker of sunglasses and other fashion accessories, sank 15.7 per cent as it projected earnings well below analyst expectations.
The company said earnings per share for 2015 would be $US5.45-$US6.05, much below the $US7.52 seen by the market.
Bond prices rose, helped by the dovish Fed minutes.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.08 per cent from 2.14 per cent on Tuesday, while the 30-year fell to 2.71 per cent from 2.73 per cent.
Bond prices and yields move inversely.
