2018.05.2321:04:00UTC+00Wall Street Rebounds after Fed Minutes

U.S. stocks rallied in late trade to finish higher on Wednesday, after the minutes from the Federal Reserve's May 2 meeting confirmed that policymakers support a June rate hike and are maintaining a calm attitude about the inflation outlook. Stocks were under pressure earlier as geopolitical and trade concerns continued to dent investor sentiment.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 52.4 points to close at 24,886.81, led higher by gains in Boeing and McDonald's. The S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to finish at 2,733.29 after a decline in interest rates sparked strong performance from utilities and real estate. The Nasdaq composite added 0.6 percent to finish at 7,425.96 as Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Netflix led technology stock higher.

Earlier Wednesday, trade and geopolitical concerns overshadowed markets. President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday he wasn't really happy with the progress of U.S.-China trade talks, and he is reportedly weighing trade measures to cut European Union steel and aluminum exports to the U.S. by about 10%. Separately, he has also hinted that his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may not go ahead as planned.

The Dow started the day down more than 100 points after retail giant Target reported earnings that missed expectations. Minneapolis-based Target plunged over 5.5 percent after it posted first-quarter earnings that missed analysts' expectations on both the top and bottom lines.

Shares of industrial conglomerate General Electric lost 7.2 percent, its worst one-day performance since 2009, after chief executive John Flannery said he expects no profit growth this year in its already stagnant power business.