Wall Street turns positive after release of Fed minutes

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street eked out gains Thursday, reversing the session's earlier losses after the U.S. Federal Reserve released minutes from its November meeting in which the central bank opened the debate on when to pause further interest rate hikes.

All three major U.S. indexes were up modestly.

The minutes showed almost all Fed members agreeing that another rate increase was "likely to be warranted fairly soon," but also ticked off a series of issues that had begun weighing on their view of the economy.

Wall Street was lifted a day earlier by comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, that many investors read as signalling the Fed's three-year tightening cycle is drawing to a close.

"The minutes seem to be consistent with Powell's statement yesterday that while a December rate hike seems almost certainly on the cards a review of policy is warranted before additional rate hikes will occur next year," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 103.51 points, or 0.41 percent, to 25,469.94, the S&P 500 gained 9.46 points, or 0.34 percent, to 2,753.25 and the Nasdaq Composite added 27.87 points, or 0.38 percent, to 7,319.46.

The S&P 500 healthcare <.SPXHC> and energy <.SPNY> sectors led the benchmark index higher.

Gains were muted as investors eyed the upcoming G20 summit in Buenos Aires, where U.S. President Donald Trump was due to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Saturday to discuss trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.

Trump sent mixed signals on Thursday about a potential trade deal between the world's two largest economies.

Technology shares weighed the most on all three major U.S. stock indexes, with the S&P 500 technology sector <.SPLRCT> down 0.2 percent.

Interest rate-sensitive financials <.SPNY> edged down 0.2 percent, as U.S. 10-year Treasury yields continued to fall after Powell's remarks.

Among large U.S. banks, shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co , Citigroup Inc , Bank of America Corp , Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley were down between 0.5 and 1.2 percent.

A slew of data hinted at a slowdown in U.S. economic growth. The core PCE price index dropped below the Fed's 2 percent target to 1.8 percent, its lowest reading since February. New claims for unemployment insurance rose to a six-month high, and pending sales of existing homes plunged unexpectedly, falling 2.6 percent.

Twitter Inc dropped 4.2 percent after a Politico report that Fox News boycotted the social media network seemed to fuel worries over a wider backlash.

Dollar Tree Inc rose 6.5 percent after the discount retailer said tariffs would have a minimal impact this year, its comments offsetting a same-store sales miss and a full-year forecast cut.

Shares of teen apparel retailer Abercrombie & Finch Co jumped 20.4 percent after forecasting better-than-expected holiday quarter sales.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.28-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.06-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 36 new highs and 58 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)