US stocks close mixed as Fed Chair Powell says more rate hikes could be coming

• US stocks were mostly lower on Wednesday as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said more interest rate hikes are possible.
• Semiconductor stocks fell on a report that the Biden administration is considering new restrictions on China's access to AI chips.
• President Joe Biden talked up the economy in a speech this afternoon, arguing that a recession could be avoided.

US stocks traded mostly lower on Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that more interest rate hikes are possible.

Powell said at a conference in Portugal that the Fed is still laser focused on tamping down inflation and that his decision to not hike interest rates in June does not mean that the Fed is done tightening monetary policy, adding that there could even be two more back-to-back rate hikes.

"If you look at the data over the last quarter, what you see is stronger than expected growth, a tighter than expected labor market, and higher than expected inflation. So that tells us that although policy is restrictive, it may not be restrictive enough and it has not been restricted for long enough," Powell said.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden talked up the economy and the resilience of the job market in a speech in Chicago this afternoon. Biden argued that a potential recession so many economists are worried about could be avoided.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Wednesday:

• S&P 500: 4,376.86, down 0.04%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,852.66, down 0.22% (74.08 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 13,591.75, up 0.27%

Here's what else happened today:

• The Fed won't hit its 2% inflation target until 2025 and cutbacks in consumer spending suggests a recession is imminent, the CEO of Bank of America said.
• Apple stock continues to hit all-time highs and is just a stone throws away from reaching a $3 trillion valuation.
• Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the onset of artificial intelligence represents the "fourth industrial revolution" and will see $1 trillion in investment.
• Two of the best performing stocks in the S&P 500 this year are cruise line companies Royal Caribbean and Carnival Corp.
• Semiconductor stocks fell after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration is considering placing more restrictions on China's access to artificial intelligence chips. Nvidia shares fell 2%.
• Joby Aviation stock soared as much as 44% after the flying-taxi company received a permit to begin flight tests.

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 2.44% to $69.35 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, jumped 2.10% to $73.78.
• Gold fell 0.22% to $1,919.60 per ounce.
• The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell 5 basis points to 3.72%.
• Bitcoin fell 2.04% to $30,073, while ether dropped 3.05% to $1,832.