The Dow finished barely positive Wednesday on its 125th birthday but the broader market clinched modest gains, powered by a rise in energy and consumer discretionary as investors appeared to grow assured that the Federal Reserve wouldn’t react to rising inflation by rapidly withdrawing easy-money policies. Against the backdrop, the Russell 2000 index closed up around 2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained less than 0.1%, while the S&P 500 index edged 0.2% higher at 4,196. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 0.6% to reach around 13,738. Shares of Ford Motor Co. shot up 8.5% after the vehicle maker said it planned to spend $30 billion on vehicle electrification by 2025, up from a previously stated goal of $22 billion in EV spending. Meanwhile, Senate lawmakers grilled the heads of banking giants JPMorgan Chase & Co. , Citigroup Inc. Morgan Stanley , Bank of America Corp. , Wells Fargo & Co. and Goldman Sachs . In other corporate news, shares of Amazon finished up 0.2% after its announcement to by MGM.
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