Dow Jones snaps 3-day losing streak

US stocks mostly rose on Wednesday as investors assessed the Federal Reserve's December meeting minutes and economic data showing a slowdown in the US labor market.

At the end of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index increased by 0.25%, or 106 points, to 42,635 points, after falling earlier to 42,327 points. This marks the first rise for the index in three sessions.

The S&P 500 rose by 0.15%, or 9 points, to 5,918 points, while the Nasdaq Composite settled almost unchanged, to end the session at 19,478 points.

Looking at European markets, the STOXX Europe 600 index fell by 0.2% to 513.6 points; however, losses were limited by a rise in bank stocks.

The British FTSE index stabilized at 8,251 points, the German DAX index settled at 20,329 points, and the French CAC lost 0.5% to 7,452 points.

In Japan, the Nikkei index ended the session lower by 0.25% to 39,981 points, while its broader counterpart, TOPIX, fell by 0.6% to 2,770 points.

In the oil market, futures prices for standard Brent crude for March delivery fell by 1.15%, or 89 cents, to $76.16 per barrel, after touching $77.89.

Futures prices for US Nymex crude for February delivery fell by 1.25% or 93 cents at $73.32 a barrel, after rising to $75.29.

As for gold, the prices of gold futures contracts for February delivery rose by 0.25%, or $7, to $2,672.40 per ounce, after touching $2,687, which is the highest level for the contract since mid-last December.

This comes after economic data showed that US companies added 122,000 jobs in December, which is less than expected, while wages grew at the slowest pace since July 2021.

However, the Fed’s December minutes revealed that nearly all policymakers believed the upside risks to inflation expectations had increased, fueling investor concerns about fewer-than-expected rate cuts this year.