While you were sleeping: UPDATED Wall Street stalls as Fed minutes tip rise

Wall Street was mixed, with a rally in DuPont shares lifting the Dow to a fresh record high, while a decline in oil weighed on energy stocks.

Federal Reserve minutes released during the session revealed officials anticipated raising short-term interest rates “fairly soon.”

At the close of trading in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 32.60 points, or 0.16%, to 20,775.60. However, the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.09% to 5860.63, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.1% to 2362.82.

The Dow touched a record high 20,778.20, pushed up by advances in DuPont and 3M shares, which traded 4% and 1% higher respectively. They outweighed declines in Intel and Exxon Mobil shares, down 1.5% and 0.8%.

US crude futures 1.4% to $US53.59 a barrel. On Tuesday, oil rose to its highest settlement since December.

DuPont-Dow merger cleared
DuPont shares rose amid reports the company's $US130 billion merger with Dow Chemical will be cleared by European Union antitrust regulators. Shares of Dow Chemical jumped 4.6%.

Investors also reacted to minutes of the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Officials said they anticipated raising short-term interest rates “fairly soon” and some officials said it might be appropriate to move “potentially at an upcoming meeting.

“The rhetoric on inflation has turned among Fed officials, with many now expecting the firming to continue,” Sue Trinh, head of Asia forex strategy at RBC Capital Markets, told Dow Jones.

Indeed, in the minutes officials cited an improving economy and the possibility of proposed economic policies could push inflation up faster than anticipated. Still, most investors aren’t anticipating a rate rise at next month’s Fed meeting.

Home sales rise
Meanwhile, a National Association of Realtors report shows existing home sales rose 3.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.69 million units in January, the strongest since February 2007.

The gain signals resilience among consumers even in a rising interest rate environment, according to Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.

"Much of the country saw robust sales activity last month as strong hiring and improved consumer confidence at the end of last year appear to have sparked considerable interest in buying a home," Mr Yun says.

"Market challenges remain, but the housing market is off to a prosperous start as homebuyers staved off inventory levels that are far from adequate and deteriorating affordability conditions."

Unilever review
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index finished the session marginally higher from the previous close, as gains in Unilever offset slides in energy stocks. France's CAC 40 Index rose 0.2%, while Germany's DAX Index increased 0.3%. The UK's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.4%, bolstered by Unilever.

Days after rejecting Kraft Heinz's $US143 billion takeover bid, Unilever announced a comprehensive review of its business for completion by early April.

Unilever shares jumped 6.9% in London.

"Unilever is conducting a comprehensive review of options available to accelerate delivery of value for the benefit of our shareholders," the Anglo-Dutch company says.

"The events of the last week have highlighted the need to capture more quickly the value we see in Unilever.

"We expect the review to be completed by early April, after which we will communicate further."

(BusinessDesk)