Wall Street ends mixed on NATO and Powell day

Wall Street closed the session in mixed territory, with investors digesting Jerome Powell's comments and assessing the Iran-Israel ceasefire.

Investors remained attentive to the second day of hearings by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell before Congress and the Senate.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs will likely push up inflation in the coming months, even as some Republican senators suggested the president was biased against tariffs. In the second day of his semiannual testimony before the House and Senate, Powell said consumers will likely have to bear some of the cost of the import taxes. Most Fed officials support cutting rates this year, Powell added, but the central bank wants to take its time to see how inflation plays out in the coming months.

The Dow Jones index was the only one to record losses at the end of the day, with a drop of 0.25% to 42,982.43 points. The S&P500 increased 0.03% to 6,093.86 points and the Nasdaq gained 0.31% to 19,973.55 points.

Nvidia closed on the gains side, soaring 4.33%, followed by Goldman Sachs, which rose 1.14%. JPMorgan rose 1.07% and Walt Disney advanced 0.72%. In the opposite direction, McDonald's lost 2.03%, Travelers fell 2%, Visa slipped 1.63% and Honeywell slid 1.25%.

Today was the day that the NATO summit concluded with the alliance's leaders confirming their commitment to more than double defense spending by 2035,

In the oil market, Texan WTI gained 1.27%, setting the price per barrel at $65.19, and Brent rose 0.71% to $66.64. Natural gas lost 1.92% to $3.585.

In the foreign exchange market, the euro appreciated 0.41% against the dollar, settling at 1.1655 dollars.